MD Pathik Hasan

Nepal and Bangladesh are two of South Asia’s closest friends and peace-loving neighbors, their ties made closer by recent high-level state visits. President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid visited Nepal in 2019. Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari likewise visited Bangladesh in 2021 as a guest on the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Nepal recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign state in 1971 and bilateral relations solidified after Bangladesh established six trade routes with Nepal in 1976. Relations were further enriched by the visit of King Birendra of Nepal to Dhaka in 1986. The two countries are currently members of several forums, including the United Nations, the WTO, BIMSTEC and SAARC and both Nepal and Bangladesh are on the way out of the club of LDCs.

In 2019, 40,000 Bangladeshi tourists went to Nepal. At present, nearly 4,000-5,000 Nepali students are studying in medical colleges and universities in Bangladesh. After joining workplaces in Nepal, these doctors are prescribing medicines for Bangladeshi companies. As a result, a good market for Bangladeshi medicines has been created in Nepal and currently eight companies export medicines to Nepal. Unfortunately, lack of the desired SAFTA agreement is hurting their trade potential even as the two countries are moving towards a bilateral free trade agreement.

Nepal has a free trade agreement with India. It has also expressed its interest in signing a preferential trade agreement or PTA with Bangladesh to boost bilateral trade. Although talks on this started last year, Nepal is frustrated that the agreement has not been finalized. As Nepal is a close country, Bangladesh can easily import fruits, herbs and spices. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s entry into the Nepali market has multidimensional potential as Nepal currently imports 90 percent of the goods it uses.

Nepal has a population of 29 million and a GDP of nearly $30 billion. Nepalis are a very fancy nation. As a result, Nepal can be a good market for Bangladesh’s electronics, ceramics, garments, furniture and local clothing brands. The completion of the desired PTA will open new horizons in trade between the two countries; Bhutan-Bangladesh trade has doubled since the signing of the PTA between them. The Kathmandu Post quoted the country’s foreign ministry as saying that Nepal had already sent a draft PTA to Bangladesh and now it is waiting for a response.

Bangladesh can export its apparels and fertilizers to Nepal. Some Nepali media outlets had reported that 52,000 metric tons of urea was imported from Bangladesh in July. Nepal and Bangladesh are a short distance apart. The Siliguri corridor – also called the Indian Chicken Neck – in the northern part of India’s West Bengal state stands geographically between Bangladesh and Nepal.  

The Nepal-Bangladesh ties have a lot of potentials. Bangladesh’s economy is booming day by day, and analysts feel It is going to be a South Asian superstar. Current rulers Bangladesh Awami league are trying to carry out massive industrialization to make it a high-income country by 2041.

Nepal is also a prosperous country. Its people are peace-loving and hard-working, just like those in Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Nepal can connect to raise the living standards of their people.

Nepal is a huge source of hydroelectricity, and the Himalayan nation can supply it to Bangladesh to help the latter meet its demands. Bangladesh needs more electricity to run its factories. Nepal can thus play a significant role to boost Bangladesh’s economic strength. Nepal will also benefit as its electricity market would grow.

Power imports could open up another horizon in relations between the two countries. Nepal has the capacity to export about 42,000 MW of hydropower. Bangladesh, which is on the path of rapid industrialization, can import electricity from Nepal, and India too seems to be positive on this.

For this, the power transmission line has to be installed and Bangladesh, Nepal and India have to work jointly. India also stands to benefit, and as the South Asian big brother, it should play a positive role to boost Nepal-Bangladesh ties and trade. A trilateral trade scheme can be initiated alongside the border markets. Bangladesh will be able to export its ‘surplus’ electricity to Nepal during the dry season.

In June 2021, Bangladesh’s state minister for energy Nasrul Hamid announced the country will import around 700 megawatts (MW) of hydropower from Nepal to meet its future electricity demand. Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said a deal was in the final stages with Nepal and India allowing his country to import hydropower from the Himalayan state.  

According to Bangladeshi Media, Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal in 2018 to oversee investment, development and trade in hydro-electricity between the two countries. Under this arrangement, Bangladesh will import up to 9,000 Megawatt of hydropower from Nepal by 2040. Bangladesh is also keen to invest in Nepal’s hydropower sector.

Vistas of cooperation 

Recently some Nepalese media reports said Bangladesh wanted to export its apparel and fertilizer to Nepal. A total of 52 thousand metric tonnes of urea imported from Bangladesh arrived in Nepal in July.

Bangladeshi conglomerate Walton Group, which deals in electronics, telecommunication, automobiles and computers, is active in Nepal. International NGO Brac and other Bangladeshi NGOs can play definitive roles to develop the mass education and health sectors in Nepal.

Bangladesh signed a Preferential Trade Agreement with Bhutan on December 06, 2020. A Preferential Trade Agreement with Nepal is also at the final stage and is likely to be signed soon. This would enable duty-free access to products of both countries.

As an addition to the Protocol of the Nepal-Bangladesh Transit Agreement signed in 1976, a letter of exchange has been inked between the two countries to include the Rohanpur-Singhabad Rail Link between India and Bangladesh. Nepal is also interested in using Chattogram, Mongla and Paira Seaports because it is a landlocked country. Bangladesh has agreed to work on the modalities for this during the visit of Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in March.

Nepal has also expressed its interest to use the inland waterways of Bangladesh. Besides, Nepal is also keen to use the Saidpur Airport in Bangladesh’s Nilphamari district for direct flights to Biratnagar (the capital of Nepal’s province no.1). Bangladesh is open to it.

Tourism, Covid-19, counter-terrorism, microfinance, exchange of training expertise and education are some sectors in which Bangladesh and Nepal can collaborate. Bangladesh faces a refugee problem after the massive influx of Rohingya refugees into the country in 2017. Now Bangladesh wants to repatriate them to Myanmar. Nepal should support Bangladesh at all international fora to repatriate them peacefully. Such a gesture will not go unnoticed in Dhaka.

The shortest distance between Nepal and Bangladesh is only 22 kilometers, and the road distance from Banglabandha in Bangladesh to Kakarvita in Nepal is just 39 km. In this connection, railways could offer much-needed connectivity. Nepal wants to join the rail link from Rohanpur in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh to Singabad in India. Kathmandu’s distance from this railway will be only 216 km. On the other hand, China is building a railway from Lhasa in Tibet to Khasa, a border town in Nepal, and Nepal wants to bring that railway to Kathmandu. As a result, if there is effort and desire, Bangladesh can even establish a rail link to China via Kathmandu.

At present Dhaka is connected to Kathmandu by air and Nepal wants to expand air connectivity to Sylhet and Chittagong. Another option would be linking Syedpur in Bangladesh and Bhadrapur airport in Nepal, which would be just a 15 minutes flight. For those who want to avoid the hassle of a road transit visa on a business or leisure trip, this sky connectivity will be a huge relief. Both the governments may withdraw international tariffs on this route, in which case potentially millions of Bangladeshis could visit Nepal in coming years. Bangladesh could also help with the development of cricket in Nepal.

Many people think sending goods to Nepal is difficult but the task has been made much easier by the establishment of the Nepali warehouse at Banglabandha port. Bangladeshi products thus have great potential in Nepal and the private sector should be encouraged to join. In the end, again, the cooperation between the two countries will be useful in building a peaceful and prosperous South Asia.

දුම්රිය වෘත්තීය සමිති සන්ධානය.

ලේකම්,
එස්.ආර්.ආටිගල මැතිතුමා,
මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශය,

ආපදා ණය රුපියල් කෝටි 17 ක් නොගෙවීම නිසා දුම්රිය සේවකයින් දැඩි පීඩාවක. අවශ්‍ය මුදල් කඩිනමින් ලබා දෙන්න

ආපදාවක් වූ විට හෝ වෙනත් ණය අවශ්‍යතාවයක් වූ විට, හදීසි හා අත්‍යාවශය වියදමක් දැරීම සඳහා  රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට ගෙවනු ලබන ආපදා ණය මුදල් නොගෙවීම නිසා දුම්රිය සේවකයින් දැඩි පීඩාවකට පත්ව ඇත.ආයතන සංග්‍රහයේ XXIV වන පරිච්ඡේදය 10: 1 අනුව සේවකයාගේ ඉල්ලීම මත, මාස 10 ක වැටුප් උපරිමයකට යටත්ව, ආපදවක් වෙනුවෙන් වැටුප් අත්තිකාරමක් ලබාගැනීමට සේවකයාට හැකියාව ඇත.

ගංවතුර, නායයෑම් ආදි ස්වාභාවික විපත් වලදී සහන සැලසීමට, වෛද්‍ය වියදම්, පවුලේ කෙනෙකුගේ අවමංගල්‍යකදී වියදම් පියවාගැනීමට, ගෙවල් කුලී ගෙවීමට හෝ නිවාස අළුත්වැඩියාවක් කිරීමට, මදුරු දැල් මිළදී ගැනීමට, දරුවෙකුගේ පාසල් උපකරණ, පොත්පත්, පරිගනක යන්ත්‍ර හා උපාංග මිළදී ගැනීමට ආදී අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වියදමක් දැරීමට අවශ්‍ය වූ විට, පිටස්තර ණය කරුවෙකු වීමෙන්, රාජ්‍ය සේවකයා මෙන්ම රාජ්‍ය සේවයට අගෞරවයක් වීම වැලැක්වීම සඳහා රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට මෙම ණය මුදල් අනුමත කරනු ලබයි.  

එසේ අනුමත කරන ණය මුදල් කඩිනමින් ගෙවිය යුතු වුවත්, අනුමත කර වසර ගණනක් බලා සිටීමට දුම්රිය සේවකයින්ට සිදු වී ඇත. මේ ආකාරයෙන් අනුමත කර, දුම්රිය සේවකයින්ට නොගෙවා ඇති ණය මුදල මේ වනවිට රුපියල් කෝටි 17 කට අධිකය. දවසින් දවස මෙම මුදල ඉහල යන අතර, මේ හා සමාන වන මුදලක් මේ වන විට සේවකයින් ඉල්ලා තිබියදීත් ගෙවීම් නොකිරීම නිසා සේවකයින් දැඩි පීඩාවකට ලක්ව ඇත.

මේ සඳහා අවශ්‍ය මුදල් භාණ්ඩාගාරයෙන් ලබා නොදීම නිසා දුම්රිය පරිපාලනයද දැඩි අපහසුතාවයකට පත්වී  ඇත. රටේ ජනතාව පීඩාවට පත්වී සිටින ආකාරයෙන්ම, දුම්රිය සේවකයාද දැඩි පීඩාවකට පත්කර ඇති බව අවධාරණය කරන අතර, රටට බරක් වී ඇත්තේ රාජ්‍ය සේවය නොව, රාජ්‍ය සේවකයා පීඩාවට ලක් කරන මේ ආණ්ඩුව බව අවධාරණය කර සිටිමු.
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දුම්රිය සේවකයින්ට මුහුණදීමට සිදුවී ඇති ආපදා තත්වය හෝ මුදල් අවශ්‍යතාව පිළිබඳ අවධානය යොමුකර, අනුමත කර ඇති ණය මුදල් සහ ඉල්ලා ඇති ණය මුදල් ගෙවීම් කිරීමට කඩිනම් ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් ගන්නා ලෙස කරුණිකව ඉල්ලාසිටිමු.

ස්තූතියි.

මෙයට,
එස්.පී.විතානගේ
සමකැඳවුම්කරු
දුම්රිය වෘත්තීය සමිති සන්ධානය.

Indian News

Guwahati: The Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) rewards senior journalist Nava Thakuria, a resident of northeast India, for his relentless initiatives to safeguard the rights of media persons in the south Asian country and also defending the press freedom in the region with an exemplary commitment.

The Assam-based working journalist has been awarded on 30 November 2021 remotely as it was difficult for him to reach Geneva because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

It is the first time that the PEC rewards a journalist from India, the second most populous country of the world. India has a strong democracy and a vibrant press. Last year however, a record number of 5 journalists were killed in India and six this year. Journalists are targeted documenting abuses, corruption, criminal activities,” stressed the PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen.

In 2021, the media fraternity in India was the most affected by the novel coronavirus along with Brazil. The PEC award also wants to pay tribute to some 300 journalists who died throughout India with Covid-19 complications.

Receiving the PEC award is a great honour and represents a strong incentive to continue my work. I now feel more responsible for my colleagues in the media fraternity. At the same time, I greatly appreciate this award which draws attention to the situation of journalists in my country,” said Thakuria.

Journalism, be it print, electronic or digital, remains a hazardous job in India. Media persons are not duly paid here and often they face threats from both the government and non-state actors including the goons. This year, the Covid-19 has impacted severely upon the media industry in India, he added.

Besides his home country, Thakuria has also taken the pain to document the media crisis in Myanmar (also known as Burma or Brahmadesh) and reported the detention of over 120 journalists after the military coup in February. Nearly 40 out of them are still behind the bars there.

A graduate from Assam Engineering College (under Gauhati University), but preferred to be a professional journalist, Thakuria contributes to various newspapers of India along with several media outlets based in the different parts of the world.

Starting his career as a reporter in Natun Dainik, an Assamese language daily in 1990, Thakuria shifted to freelance journalism by 1999.  His focus area of reporting remains the socio-political, cultural and environmental developments taking place in eastern India along with Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The changing faces of mainstream journalism after the advent of alternate media worldwide is also a primary focus area for him. He has visited most of the prime localities in India and also Thimphu, Dhaka, Yangon, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Copenhagen, Chicago, etc for different global events and professional assignments.

Created in the Swiss city of Geneva in 2004 by a group of journalists, PEC the global media safety and rights body with the consultative status at the United Nations, is devoted to strengthening the legal protection and safety of journalists around the world. Since 2009, it has been awarding its annual prize to an individual or an organization, who works for the protection of journalists and the press freedom on the ground.

The award had earlier gone to Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui in 2020. On the previous year, the PEC rewarded the Afghanistan Journalists Center director Ahmad Quraishi, whereas in 2018 the award went to the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia (who was murdered in Malta in October 2017).

By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Mirror Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 30: The remnants of the Gandhara Buddhist civilization in Pakistan are a sight to behold, not just for Buddhist pilgrims but also for art lovers.  Imposing stupas with intricate and lifelike carvings depicting various events in the Buddha’s life and his past births abound in the Swat Valley in North West Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.   

It is amazing that an avowedly Islamic country, where idols are considered haram (forbidden), has diligently preserved these masterpieces, and that, against heavy odds. Mercifully, the icons escaped the Islamization drive of President Zia ul Haq (1978-1988).

In 2006-2007, when the Taliban banned the preservation of these objects because even the existence of idols in the midst of Muslims was haram”, President Pervez Musharraf negotiated the withdrawal of the Taliban from its destructive project. In 2016, when Pakistani archeologists discovered an ancient site at Bhamala in Swat in which there was a 48 ft long, 3 rd. Century AD,  Sleeping Buddha” statue, Imran Khan, who was then a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leader (and President of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf party) said: It is a world heritage site and because of that, people will come for religious tourism. The majority of the Pakistani population wants such sites restored.”

Apart from the government, individual Pakistanis have also helped  preserve and protect Buddhist sites against the depredations of the Taliban, idol thieves and smugglers. There is the case of Osman Ulasyar who had stopped local boys from playing cricket in a field full of First  Centry AD Buddhist stupas (burial sites containing relics). Then, at this own cost, he built a 300 ft. wall to protect the stupas.

Documentary on Gandhara

The Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Buddha Sasana recently produced a documentary on the Gandhara civilization. The documentary, which is of Hollywood quality in both grandeur and technical finesse, was made by a joint team of Pakistanis and Sri Lankans and was launched by the Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan partner in the production was Kaushalya Wickramasinghe of Siddhivinayak Cine Arts (Private) Limited, an India-trained film maker. The Director was Mateen Saherai of Pakistan and the Production Controller Sajjad Mohommad was a Pakistani from the UK. Ven. Agrahera Kassapa Thero was the Senior  content Adviser, and the concept and script were prepared by the Project Consultant Director, Vidyajothi Prof. Nimal Silva. Noted Lankan maker Chandran Rutnam was an advisor and some leading Lankan companies were among the sponsors.

Significantly, there was no reservation among the Pakistani collaborators about displaying the Hinduistic logo of the Siddhivinayak Cine Arts which was a picture of Lord Ganesha (or Gana Deviyo in Sinhala). The commentary did not black out the belief that Hindu Gods, Indra and Brahma, had stood by the Buddha right through from his birth to his death.

The documentary took viewers on a seamless journey through various Gandhara heritage sites. Key events in the life of the Buddha were narrated effectively with the sculptures providing appropriate visuals. Panoramic views of the stupas in the picturesque Swat Valley were breathtaking. 

In the Gandhara stupas, the Jataka (birth) stories of the Buddha and his previous incarnations are depicted in imaginative detail and with a warmth of feeling,” comments Dr. Ihsan H.Nadiem author of Buddhist Gandhara. Some of the stories depicted in the sculptures are: Dipankara Jataka; Visvantara Jataka; Dream of Queen Mahamaya; Interpretation of the Dream; Birth of Siddhartha; Seven Steps of the Child; Horoscope; Marriage of Siddhartha and Yasodhara; Life in the Palace; First Meditation of Siddhartha; Renunciation;  Great Departure; Farewell to Chandaka and Kanthaka; First Meeting with the Brahmans; Fasting for Salvation;  Temptation and attack by Mara’s Host; Great Enlightenment; First Sermon; Miracle of Sravasti; Death of the Buddha; Cremation; and Distribution of the Relics of the Buddha. Gandhara art recreated life in detail.

Items of everyday use such as beds and vases etc. can be clearly seen in them. Gandhara art provides an insight into all aspect of life of the region at that time.

Time Line

Gandhara finds mention in 5 th. Century BC Greek accounts as it had by then become a melting pot of Persian and Hindu Vedic traditions. In 327-326 BC it was conquered by Alexander the Great who introduced Greek art. In 321 BC, the region came under the sway of Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha in Bihar. His grandson, the Buddhist Emperor Asoka, brought Buddhism to Gandhara. However, the Buddhist Gandhara civilization reached its pinnacle under the Kushan ruler Kanishka, who assumed power between 78 AD and 144 AD. A convert to Buddhism, Kanishka built innumerable stupas containing relics of the Buddha and Buddhist savants. Fascinating works of architecture and art were produced in Gandhara under Kanishka,” Nadiem points out.  

By the second century BC, Taxila (Thakshashila) had become a multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-religious society, where Greeks, Indians, Bactrian and Western Iranians lived together. Remains of a Zoroastrian Temple from that period still exist at Jandial, directly north of Taxila,” says Brig.(R) Agha Ahmad Gul, former Vice Chancellor of Balochistan University. In contrast to present day religious groups which go for each other’s throats, the people of Gandhara lived in harmony despite ethnic and religious variations,” Brig.Gul noted.

The Gandhara civilization should be a model for today’s countries where intolerance is growing, Dr.Abdul Samad, Director of Archeology and Museums in Khyber Pakhtunwala told Reuters. Gandhara was the center of religious harmony. It is here that one finds Greek, Roman, Persian, Hindu and Buddhist gods in a single panel,” he pointed out.

However, in 460 AD, a White Hun invasion crippled the civilization. Subsequently, waves of iconoclastic Islamic raiders from the West and North West pillaged and set up a new order. Still, vary many valuables survived.   

Grecian Influence  

On Gandhara art, Nadiem says that in the light of the contacts of the Kushan rulers with the West, there was a development of a style quite distinct from the mainstream Indian tradition and in certain respects   inclined to the Western form, though the subject matter throughout remained local and Buddhist.

The Kushans patronized foreign artists probably because of their being themselves alien to the land. They thus could not be taken to the fold of Hinduism. Their status led them to embrace Buddhism and favor foreign culture,” Nadiem adds.

According to Brig. Agha Ahmad Gul: Alexander’s stay in Gandhara was short (327 BC), but he left a sizeable population of Greeks in every region he conquered, including Gandhara. The craftsmen, soldiers and other followers were encouraged to inter-marry and blend with the locals, introducing the Greek civilization in conquered regions which affected their history for centuries to come.”

Image of the Buddha

One of the greatest contributions of Gandhara Buddhist art is the representation of the Buddha as we conceptualize him now, showing Greco-Roman influence. Nadiem says that the Buddha was first represented in the human form (and not just symbolically) in the Second and Third centuries AD which followed the emergence of devotional Buddhism at the time of Kanishka’s ‘Great Buddhist Council’. And it is also in Gandhara that there is the world’s only statue of a Fasting Buddha.

Pakistan is assiduously using its Buddhist heritage to forge cultural links with Buddhist countries and also promote religious tourism. Buddhist relics were brought to Sri Lanka for exhibition and trips had been arranged for Buddhist monks to visit Gandhara. And now a documentary on Gandhara has been made.

Currently, the Buddha’s images and relics are safe in Pakistan, and the museums there are well-maintained. But Islamic iconoclastic groups inspired by the Afghan Taliban or the ISIS do exist, and could strike any moment. The bid to project Pakistan as a multi-cultural tolerant country may receive a serious setback if the Islamic zealots are not reined in.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director-General of Health Services has published new guidelines for public and work-related activities to be followed from the 01st to 15th of December.

In a press release, Dr. Asela Gunawardena noted that there is still a risk for escalation in COVID-19 transmission due to cluster formation, although significant control of the epidemic in the country has been achieved.

Proper adherence to the health guidelines has given more responsibility to the Medical Officers of Health (MOH) for regulation and monitoring at the ground level, he added. The contribution and active engagement of the relevant ministries is very important to create the inter-sectoral relationship and awareness needed to support this task successfully.”

As per the guidelines, a maximum of 1/3 of the usual hall capacity – not exceeding 200 guests – is allowed for indoor wedding receptions. Meanwhile, 250 guests are permitted for outdoor ceremonies.

Funerals should be held within 24 hours after the body is released to the family members or relatives. Only 20 individuals can attend the funeral at a given time.

With regard to private gatherings, the health services chief stated that a maximum of 1/3 of the usual hall capacity – not exceeding 100 persons – are given permission. A maximum of 10 people can attend a gathering at a private residence. However, private gatherings organized outdoors are disallowed.

Restaurants are meanwhile green-lighted to accommodate a 1/3 of the usual capacity – not exceeding 100 persons – for dining in. For outdoor arrangements, 150 people in total are permitted.

Schools and higher education institutions including universities will function as decided by the Education Ministry and the University Grants Commission, respectively. Day-care centres and preschools will also remain open during this period.

The Health Ministry has given the nod for tuition classes to conduct lessons with 50% of the usual capacity, but only for Ordinary Level and Advanced Level students.

The guidelines issued by the Director-General of Health Services are as follows: 

Press Release Controlled Relaxation of Public and Work Activities From 1st Dec to 15 Dec – 2021 11 30 by Adaderana Online on Scribd

Courtesy Adaderana

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a Committee to look into the recent incidents of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder fires and explosions that have occurred at domestic, commercial and sales outlets in various parts of the country and to find possible causes of the problem in order to provide immediate solutions to the issue.

Chaired by Prof. Shantha Walpola of the Moratuwa University, the committee also includes Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon, Prof. Ajith de Alwis of Moratuwa University, Prof. W .D.W Jayathilaka of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Prof. Pradeep Jayaweera, Commissioner of  Sri Lanka Inventors Commission Prof. Narayana Sirimuthu, Additional Director General of Industrial Technology Institute Dr. Sudarshana Somasiri and Senior Deputy Director (Technical) at Sri Lanka Standard Institute Sujeewa Mahagama. 

The President has instructed the Committee to get the information from all the necessary parties and look into existing studies and various views and submit the report to him within two weeks. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 722 today (November 30) as 195 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 563,989.

As many as 540,387 recoveries and 14,346 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the COVID-19 outbreak.

More than 9,200 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 18 new coronavirus-related deaths for November 29, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,346.

The new fatalities include 11 males and 07 females. Among them are 07 individuals between the ages 30-59 years. The remaining 11 are in the age group of 60 years and above. 

Lankaweb Editorial

Nov. 30th 2021

There seems to be a frightening revelation of the Nation’s Health Defenses according to the latest information reports where due to lax testing at the National Airport Katunayake the country could be vulnerable to the latest Covid Variations.

Quoting from the Island News

.”Due to the lax testing at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), there is a strong possibility that any new variant of COVID-19 entering the country, College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) President, Ravi Kumudesh commenting on the detection of a new Corona virus variant spreading in South Africa.According to this – Even a travel ban would be useless unless the country enhances its testing and surveillance capacities, Kumudesh said.

The report suggests that PCR tests were not conducted on passengers on arrival and that it was likely that even those not fully vaccinated were entering the country. Gene Sequencing with respect to those infected with COVID inside the country was at a minimal level, and therefore, there is no way we can find out whether a new variant has entered the country until it is too late.“end quote

So why is it that – despite there being two state-of-the-art labs at the BIA no tests have been done there ! The country appears to be unprepared where several nations are imposing bans on travel from South Africa and the region where the time factor in implementing bans could prove vital due to the speed at which these variants propagate.

Sri Lanka has presently imposed a ban where having delayed it rather than acting promptly although even a travel ban might be ineffective now due to the delay and appears to be gross neglect or inefficiency on the part of the authorities concerned.

To add to the consternation and anxieties related, the report indicates that the number of PCR tests conducted had dropped to such a low level that reagents used in some labs for PCR testing are now nearing the expiry dates. The attitude of health officials at the airport is such that everyone operates on the basis that testing of passengers is not important.This suggests apathy and needs to be acted upon stringently and those responsible brought to task!

The Institute of Health concludes that the detection of the new South African variant `Omniron`  is potentially hazardous and a danger for all countries especially for Sri Lanka which is vulnerable from many perspectives including the lax responses from the authorities and, dwindling resources which could prove to be calamitous and  have dire ramifications for all citizens already caught up in a vortex of uncertainty both from a health perspective as well as financially as the administration teeters on the brink of uncertainty and perhaps seen as scrambling to steady the ship in a maelstrom of confusion and the patience of the population wearing thin.

The report quoted earlier also bears further chilling news that “Countries like South Africa, Peru, etc., who had such high levels of infection that much of their population was infected more than once, still continue to suffer new waves of infection. Because most of the world is following the misguided strategy of just accepting the virus,  it has plenty of chances to keep on mutating more. It has also been observed that the virus is circulating more than ever before.Furthermore despite a lot of speculation about how T-cell immunity is going to protect us, there’s really no evidence that either infection or current vaccines and boosters will ever give us long-lasting immunity. We simply don’t know.”

So this is bad news for all of us humans on planet earth, but very definitely for us in Sri Lanka. Why? Because based on how our medical establishment and govt authorities think, we will be slow or refuse to put the necessary border controls in to prevent this entering. And when it does enter-which is inevitable if this variant spreads globally–we will be slow to detect its entry, we will refuse to sound the alarm, and we will do everything but actually attempt to stop it.

That’s been our track record, so why would it change? Worth noting that if this starts a new wave in Southern Africa, it’s just three to four months after their third wave. So just as immunity starts waning appreciably from natural infection (or vaccines). That gives us a strong hint of what our future holds unless we end this pandemic.” end quote veritably.

Sri Lanka having been the cynosure of the world once, about how the pandemic was handled admirably has now lost that status and at the mercy of the elements where the authorities seem to be pathetically clutching at straws where it is up to the Leadership of the President and his team to seek out the panacea towards restitution which now seems no mean task but the Nation  certainly depends on his manoeuvrability and choices.

By Senaka Weeraratna BY SPUR WEB TEAM · MARCH 18, 2019

(This is an edited version of a paper read out at a Public Seminar on the ‘ Kandyan Convention of 1815’ held at the University of Peradeniya, Arts Theatre, on March 09, 2019)

The Kandyan Convention (‘Ingrisy – Sinhale Givisuma’) must be examined in the context of British colonial policy seeking British supremacy all over world. The British developed ingenious ways of grabbing other people’s lands under various pretexts. The Kandyan Convention is a classic example of this ploy. In India, under its policy of Subsidiary Alliance the British used Treaties to make Indian States, subordinate to British Colonial administration. The British agenda under the Kandyan Convention, whatever the wording in the provisions was not very different.

Kingdom of Kandy was never conquered. It was ceded to the British retaining several provisions favourable to the Kandyan Sinhalese. Articles 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the Kandyan Convention were meant to protect the Kandyan Sinhalese and allow them to govern the Kingdom as they did under their deposed King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe. Nevertheless, once the British had obtained full control of the land they began to interpret the provisions in an insincere self – serving manner that was highly prejudicial to the interests of the Kandyans, who had foolishly trusted the British.

https://www.spur.asn.au/kandyan-convention-of-1815-a-convention-violated-and-dishonoured/

 චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම,  LL.B., Ph.D.

නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍යය නමැති මිථ්‍යාව

‘The rich and the poor both have an equal right to sleep under the bridges in Paris.’- Source: Donald Black, The Behavior of Law, 1976

එක රටක් එක නීතියක් බලකාය යාපනේ පැවැත්වූ  රැස්වීමේදී  වයෝවෘධ කුරක්කල්තුමා  ගැයූ ලතා වල්පොලගේ ‘අමතක කරලමු පැරණි කතා’ යන සිංදු කොටස හා තරුණ  දමිළ  වාර්තාකරුවෙකු විසින් ඇසු <ටී.එන්.ඒ ප්‍රශ්ණ>  සාමන්‍ය හින්දු ජනයා හා දමිළ බෙදුම්වාදීන් අතර ඇති පරතරය එලිකරයි. ජේවීපීකාරයින් විජේවීරව සැමරීම හා ශිවාජිලිංගම්ලා, විග්නේශ්වරන්ලා මහවිරුදිනය කියා නොවැම්බර් 27 දා ප්‍රභාකරන් සැමරිම එක සමාන සිද්ධීන් දෙකක් නොවේ. විජේවීර රට දෙකඩ කඩන්නට මිනීමැරුවේ නැත. රට බෙදීමට කතාකිරීම නීති විරෝධීය. මේ නිසා මේ කාරණාවේදී උතුරට  එක නීතියක්, දකුණට වෙන නීතියක් ඇයි යන ප්‍රශ්ණය, ආබ්‍රහම් සුමන්තිරන්, ගජේන්ද්‍ර කුමාර් පොන්නම්බලම්, ශනක්‍යයන් රාසමානික්කම්ලා උතුරේ දමිළ තරුණයින්ට දාන නාස් ලණුවක් පමණය.

1957 දී අගමැති බණ්ඩාරනායක කුලය අනුව මිනිසුන්ට සවුත්තු ලෙස සැළකීම තහනම් කිරීමට නීතියක් පැණවූයේ මැත් ප්‍රොෆෙසර් සුන්දරලිංගම් විසින් හරිජනයාට හින්දු කෝවිල් වලට ඒමට ඉඩ නොදීම පිණිස ගෙනගිය ව්‍යාපාරයට විරුද්ධවය (An act to prevent the imposition of Social Disabilities on any persons by reason of their caste, no 21 of 1957 & 18 of 1971). රා බොන්නට කුලහීන ජනයා ලඟට යන වෙල්ලාලයෝ කුලහීනයින්ට ලිඳකින් වතුර බොන්නට ඉඩ නොදෙයි! මෙම නීතිය අදටත් නිසිලෙස යාපනේ නගර සභා ප්‍රදේශය තුලවත් ක්‍රියාත්මක නොවන බව අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථන් විසින්  පෙන්වාදෙන ලදී. උතුරේ පලාත් සභාව මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ක්‍රියාකලාද? කර්නල් රත්නප්‍රිය බන්ධු මෙහිලා කල සේවය ඔහුව මාරුකර යවද්දී වවුනියා ජනයා  හඬා වැටුණ පින්තූර වලින් පෙනී ගියේය.  ටී.එන්.ඒ කාරයිනේ තවමත් හැසිරෙන්නේ 2019 මැයි 19 දාට කලින් යුගයේමය! උතුරේ ජනයා බෙදුම්වාදීන්ගෙන් මුදාගැනීම සඳහා ක්‍රියාකරණ බ්‍රදර් චාර්ල්ස්ටද අරුන්ගේ සංවිධානය සමඟ එකතුවී මෙම බලකායට උපරිම සහයෝගයක් දීමට අවස්ථාවක් උදාවී තිබේ.

LankaWeb – බ්‍රදර් චාල්ස් තෝමස්ගේ හා සිංහල බුද්ධාගම Posted on May 24th, 2021

උලමා සභාව මෙම බලකාය ඉදිරියට එන තෙක් රටම බලා සිටී. මුස්ලිම් විවාහ නීතිය අහෝසිකරණවා නම්, විහාර දේවාලගම් පණතද අහෝසි කලයුතුයයි අලි සබ්‍රි කල කතාව, මුස්ලිම් පිරිමින් විසින් මුස්ලිම් ස්ත්‍රීන් යටපත් කරගෙන ගෙනයන කාමාශා ජාවාරම, ශාරියා-වහාබ් ව්‍යාප්තවාදය සමඟ බද්ධකර ඇති තරම එලිකරයි. රට දෙකට කැඩීමේ ඊළම් ප්ලෑන නිසා ලංකාව දකුණු ආසියාවේ පලස්තීනයක් වනු ඇත. මායිම් සටන උතුරින් ටැමිල්නාඩ් හා දකුණේ සිංහල රට අතර අරගලයක් වන්නේ  රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ දමන්නට යෝජනා කල පාලම ටැමිල්නාඩ්-ඊළම් පාලමක් වන නිසාය.

ඉස්ලාම් ව්‍යාප්තවාදය මිටත් වඩා භයානකය. රටේ එක ප්‍රදේශයක නොව මුළු දිවයින පුරාම ගම් මට්ටමින් මුස්ලිම් බලකොටු පිහිටුවීම හා එමඟින් මුළු රටම ඉස්ලාම් කිරීම ශාරියාකාරයින්ගේ, උලමාකාරයින්ගේ අභිප්‍රාය වේ. මේ සඳහා අරාබි ඩොලර් ගලා එන්නේ, ගඩාෆි හා යසාර් අර්පත්  1976 දී ලංකාවට ඇවිත් මුස්ලිමුන්ට යෝජනාකල ගර්භාශ යුද්ධයත් සමඟය.

LankaWeb – ට්‍රිපල් තලාක්/සබරිමාලා නඩු තීන්‌දු හා ලංකාවේ අනාගතය – 2 කොටස
Posted on December 5th, 2020

අසාධාරණ නීතිවලට රූල් ඔෆ් ලෝ එකක් නැත. ගාන්ධි දකුණු අප්‍රිකාවේ හා පසුව ඉන්දියාවේදීත්, මාටින් ලූතර් කිං ඇමෙරිකාවේදීත් සිවිල් නීති කඩකලේ ඒ නිසාය. එහෙත්  යාපනේ ටි.එන්.ඒ. කාරයින්  කඩකරන්නේ සමාජ අසාධාරණය පිළිඹඳ 1957 නීතියත්, රට කැඩීමට විරුද්ධව ඇති ව්‍යවස්ථාවත් නොවේද? 2002 මිසිස් චන්ද්‍රිකාගේ බෞද්ධ කොමිෂන් වාර්තාවේත්, 2020 පෙබරවාරි 19 ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිඹඳ පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආංශික අධීක්ෂණ කාරක සභාවේ වාර්තාව, (මලිත් ජයතිලක, සභාපති), මාතෘකා 14 ක් යටතේ කියන්නේත්, රටේ හැකිතාක් දුරට එක සාධාරණ නීතියක් තිබිය යුතු බවය.  මෙම කාරක සභාවට සිංහල, දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් මන්ත්‍රීන් සහභාගි විය. ඥානසාර හිමියන්ගේ කාර්ය සාධක බලකායට  ඇස්පියා ගෙනම, විශේෂයෙන් මලික් වාර්තාව, හමස් පෙට්ටියෙන්  එලියට ගත හැකිය.

LankaWeb – නීති පොතේ ඇති, එහෙත් රටේ නැති, ආධිපත්‍ය දෙකකට නැසෙන සුප්‍රීම් උසාවිය Posted on May 10th, 2020

මෙම කෙටි හැඳින්වීමෙන් පෙන්වන්නට සැදුවේ <රූල් ඔෆ් ලෝ කතාව> ඉස්සරහට දමාගෙන, තමන්ගේ සැබෑ අරමුණ තේසවලාමෙයි අස්සේ සැඟවීමට ඊළම් හෙවනැළි ගන්නට සැදූ  උත්සාහයත්, ශාරියා කාරයින්ගේ ලංකාව අරාබිකරණය කිරීමේ ප්ලෑනත්, දැනට ඉන්නා සිංහල පක්ෂ දේශපාලන හොරුන් විසින් පරාජය නොකරණ බවය. අරාබි ඩොලර් වලින් හෝ ඊළම් හොර ඩොලර් වලින් ශූක්ෂම ලෙස රටේ ඉඩ-කඩම් අල්ලාගන්නා ආකාරය ගැන පර්යේෂණයක් කිරීමේ ආරම්භක පියවර වන්නේ කාර්යාලවල ලියාපදිංචි කර ඇති ඉඩම් ඔප්පු සමීක්ෂණය කිරීමෙනි. මෙය ස්වේචා බලකායක් විසින් රටපුරාම කලොත් සත්‍යය රටට හෙලිවනු ඇත.ඥානසාර හිමියන් ඉදිරියේ ඔවුන් වැල්ලේ හිස් සඟවාගත් පැස්බරුන් වැනිය.

‘භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට පටහැනිවන නීති පැණවිය නොහැක’

ඓතිහාසිකව සුදු අධිරාජ්‍යවාදීන් කලේ භූමි ප්‍රදේශවල (රටවල්වල) භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට එරෙහිව ක්‍රියාකිරීමය. මැදපෙරදිග, අප්‍රිකාවේ රටවල් වල, දැනට ඇති ගැටුම් වලට ප්‍රධානම හේතුව හිතුවක්කාරී ලෙස ප්‍රදේශ හරහා මායිම් රේඛා ඇඳීමය. මේ මඟින් එකම ගෝත්‍ර රටවල් දෙකකට බෙදීයාම හෝ වෙනස් ගෝත්‍ර එකට දැමීම සිදුවිය. සුද්දා බැලුවේ තම සූරා කෑමේ වාසිය පමණය. ඉන්දියාවේ භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට අනුව එය තනි රටක් ලෙස (ඇමෙරිකාව මෙන් පෙඩරල්) තිබිය යුතු වුවත්, එය රටවල් තුනකට කැඩීයාමට සැළැස්වීම ලෝක අපරාධයකි. ලංකා කොලනියද 1832 දී පහකට බෙදුවේ  මේ කුඩා දිවයිනේ භෞතික හා මානව භූගෝල විද්‍යාව  අමතක කර දමාය. ලංකාවේ භෞතික භූගෝල විද්‍යා හෝ වාරි කර්මාන්ත  සිතියම දෙස බලන්නෙකුට පලාත් නමයේ බෙදීම කෙතරම් අඥාන ක්‍රියාවක්දැයි සිතාගත නොහැකිද?  2021 දී ඥානසාර කමිටුවට මෙය රටේ පරිසර විද්‍යාවට අනුරූප වනසේ නිවැරදි කිරීමට නිර්දේශ කල හැකිය. එක රටක්-එක නීතියක් යන සංකල්පයේ පදනම එයය. මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයේ සිට වටේට ගලනා ගංඟා 103 ක් හා අවුරුද්දේ ඝෘතු අනුව හමන නිරිතදිග හා ඊසානදිග මෝසම් සුළං වලින් ලැබෙන වර්ෂාපතන ප්‍රමාණය හා  එය පතිතවන භූමි ප්‍රදේශය තීරණය වන, වෙනස්වන, දිවයිනක පරිපාලන ඒකක සීමා  නිර්ණය කලයුතු කෙසේද යන්න  පක්ෂ දේශපාලක කළුසුද්දන් තවමත් අවභෝධ කරගෙන නැත.

 මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කලකට පෙර සංහිඳියා කොමිෂමටත්, මෑතකදී ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදක කොමිටියටත් දන්වා ඇතත්, එහි ඉන්නා නීතීඥයින් අට දෙනා මීට පෙර මේ වැඩේ කල නීතීඥයින්ට වඩා වෙනස් පිරිසක් යයි සිතිය හැකිද? මෙහිදී ඇති ගැටළුව නම් මෙම කෝල්බෲක් පැරඩයිම් එකෙන් ගැලවීමට වෝඩ් මට්ටමේ සිට ජනාධිපති දක්වා බලය අල්ලාගෙන ඉන්නා නාස්ලණු නියෝජිත පිරිස සූදානම්ද යන්නය. මෙවැනි විප්ලවයක් කල හැක්කේ පක්ෂ දේශපාලන වංචාවෙන් ඇට්ටකුණානොවුන ජනාධිපති ගෝඨභය වැනි අයෙකුට පමණය. මේ නිසා ඥානසාර හිමියන්ගේ කොමිටියට ඇත්තේ ඓතිහාසික වගකීමකි. පරිසරයට අනුකූලවූ, භාෂා, ආගම්, අනුව නොවන පරිපාලන ඒකක ග්‍රාම් සේවා වසම් මට්ටමේ (මේවා වෝඩ් ඒකකද වන්නේය) සිට පිහිටුවා ගැනීමෙන් රටේ ප්‍රශ්ණ වලින් සියේට 70 ක් පමණම විසඳාගත හැකිය. එක රටක්-එක නීතියක් යන සංකල්පයෙන් අපේක්ෂා කරන්නේත් මෙය නොවේද? විවිධත්වයෙන් මතුවන එකමුතුවකක් සඳහා  (unity in diversity) භූමීය (spatial) පදනම සපයන එය, යහපාලන කාලයේ මනෝ ගනේෂන්ලාගේ හා මිසිස් චන්ද්‍රිකාලාගේ බොරු සංහිඳියා කතාවලට දිය යුතු, විද්‍යාත්මක හා දාර්ශණික, ජනහිතකාමී පිළිතුරය. තිරසර සංවර්ධනය යන සංකල්පය හා බෞද්ධ දර්ශණය අතර ඇත්තේ සුවිශේෂ ගහට පොත්ත වැනි බැඳීමකි.  කොරෝනා වසංගතය ලෝකයට ඉගැන්වූ එක් පාඩමක් නම් මිනිස් ශුභසාධනය සඳහා බෞද්ධ ජීවන රටාව කෙතරම් යෝග්‍යයද යනුය.

භූගෝල විද්‍යාව-නීතිය-බුද්ධාගම

ලංකාවේ වසන දමිළ හා ඉස්ලාම් ජනයාට ලෝකයේ වෙන කිසිම රටකදී ඔවුන්ට ලැබෙනවාට වඩා අයිතිවාසිකම් ඔවුන් වාසය කරණ මේ සිංහල රටතුල ඓතිහාසිකව ලබාදී තිබෙනවා යන්න අතිශයෝක්තියක් නොවේ. ටැමිල්නාඩ් හෝ අරාබි රටවලින් ඊට නිදසුන් ලබාගත හැකිය. ලංකාවේ තිබෙන්නේ ජනවර්ග අතර ඇති විෂමතාවයක් නොවේ (discrimination based on language or religion). එසේ බැලුවොත් ඉන්දියන් වතු කම්කරුවන් හා උතුරේ හීනකුලවලට අයත් යයි කියන ජනයා හැරුණු විට, රටේ සිංහල මහජාතියට වඩා හොඳ ජීවන තත්වයක් (living standard) සෙසු ජන වර්ග වලට ඇත. නමුත් නියම ප්‍රශ්ණය එය නොවේ. ප්‍රශ්ණය නම් ප්‍රදේශ වශයෙන්, ස්ථාන ගම්, ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා, දිස්ත්‍රික් (places, locations, villages) යනාදී භූමි ඒකක වශයෙන් රට පුරා දක්නට ලැබෙන විෂමතාවයය. මෙයට සිංහල, දමිළ, මුස්ලිම් කියා භේදයක් නැත (spatial inequality in resource distribution and equal access to opportunity). ස්වභාව ධර්මයෙන් ලබාදී ඇති විවිධත්වය හා සම්පත් (භූගෝල විද්‍යාව), දේශපාලකයින් විසින් අවභාවිතා කිරීමය (නීතිය). මෙම සංසිද්ධිය ට්‍රැජඩි ඔෆ් ද කොමන්ස් යනුවෙන් හැඳින්වේ..

ගම කබලෙන් ලිපට දමන දේශපාලනය

ආණ්ඩුව නමැති පක්ෂ දේශපාලන සංස්ථාව ගම ගොඩ නැඟීමට යයි නටනා නාඩගම් කොමිස් හා දූෂණ වලින් අවසාන වේ. ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපතිගේ ගම් උදාව කටු නොකැරකෙන ඔර්ලෝසු කණු වලින් කලින් තිබුණු ගම තවත් විනාශ කලේය. නැටූ නැටුමකුත් නැත, බෙරේ පළුවකුත් නැත! සමෘධි ලාභීන් අඩුවෙනවා නොව වැඩිවෙන විට දේශපාලකයා හා නිලධාරියා ඉන් මෝඩ සුදියක් ලබයි. දුප්පතුන් හා පොහොසතුන් අතරත්, කොළඹ හා ගම අතරත් ඇති, ඇති-නැති පරතරය වැඩිවනවා මිස අඩු නොවේ. මෙම අර්බුදයට විසඳුම දේශපාලකයාට අයවැයෙන් මුදල් වෙන්කර දීම නොව, ජන සභා ක්‍රමයක් මඟින් ජනතාවට පාලන බලය මාරු කිරීමය. නිව්සීලන්තයේ මෙන් ජන සභා පරිසර ඒකක ලෙස භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට අනුව මායිම් කර ගැනීමය. පක්ෂ දේශපාලකයා ඉන් ඉවත් කිරීමය. පලාත් සභා මර උඟුල අහෝසි කිරීමය. මීට විරුද්ධවන්නේ ජනතාව නොව දේශපාලන හොරු රැළ්ය. ගැමි දිරිය නම් සාර්ථක ව්‍යාපාරය, දේශපාලකයින් විනාශකලේ, 1940 දශක වලදී කළුකොඳයාවේ ප්‍රඥාශෙඛර නාහිමියන්ගේ ග්‍රාම ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ හා අපරාධ මර්දන ව්‍යපෘතිය ඩි. බී. ජයතිලක හා ඩී ඇස්. සේනනායකලා විසින් කඩාකප්පල් කල පරිදිමය.

බල පිරමිඩය හා ධර්ම චක්‍රය

සර්වෝදයේ ආරියරත්න මහතා විසින් 1988 දී ලියන ලද, ‘බල පිරමිඩය හා ධර්ම චක්‍රය’ යන අගනා කෘතියේ  114 පිටුවේ ඇති සටහනක් මෙහි පහතින් කොපිකර ඇත. මා ලියන මීළඟ අවසාන ලිපියෙන් පෙන්වා දීමට අදහස් කරණ භූගෝලවිද්‍යා- නීතිය-බුද්ධාගම යන ත්‍රිත්වය මෙම සර්වෝදය රූප සටහනේ සැඟවී සිටී. එහි නීති වර්ග තුනක් සඳහන්කර තිබේ (ජන/ස්වභාව/ධර්ම). සම්පත් වශයෙන් එහි දැක්වෙන්නේ රටක භූගෝල විද්‍යාවය. රට-දැය-සමය ගම, වැව, දාගැබ යනාදිය මානව භූගෝල විද්‍යා අංගය. අනිත් අතට, බුදුදහම, පිරමිඩයේ තුන්වන ගෝලය ලෙස සෙසු ගෝල දෙකත්, සියළු පිරමිඩත් සම්බන්ධකරයි. ඊට පිටින් ඇති රවුමේ සංඝයා වහන්සේ ලොව වෙන කිසි රටක නැති ලංකාවේ මුරදේවතා සංකල්පය සනිටුහන් කරලන්නේය.

මීලඟ අවසාන කොටස: ලෝකයේ ප්‍රශ්ණ බුදු දහම අනුසාරයෙන් විසඳා ගත හැකිය- ඉන්දියාවේ ජනාධිපතිව සිටි අබ්දූල් කලාම්

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

මිනිස් සත්ත්වයා අනෙකුත් සත්ත්වයන්ගෙන් වෙන්කොට විශේෂිතව සැළැකීමට අදාළ ප්‍රමුඛතම කරුණක් වනුයේ ගින්දර නිපැදැවීමට, භාවිතයට සහ ගින්නෙහි උපකාරයෙන් ආහාර පිසීමට දක්වන සමත් බව ය. ගිනි නිපදවා (දල්වා), තම අවශ්‍යතා වෙනුවෙන් එය කළමනාකරණය සඳහා දක්වන මෙම හැකියාව තුළින් මිනිස් ශිෂ්ටාචාර වර්ධනය වී තිබේ. ගින්නෙහි විශේෂිත බව බුද්ධ දේශනාව තුළ ද වර්ණනා කෙරී තිබේ. අංගුත්තර නිකායේ චතුක්ක නිපාතයට අයත් ආභා වර්ගයෙහි එන ආභා, පභා, ආලෝක, ඔභාස සහ පජ්ජොත යන සූත්‍ර දේශනා මේ සඳහා නිදසුන් වශයෙන් දැක්විය හැකි ය.

ස්වභාවික උපද්‍රව, වසංගත, කැරැළි කෝලාහල, සතුරු උපද්‍රව, වෙනත් කැළැඹීම් මැද ආහාර සුරක්‍ෂිතතාව තහවුරු කරගත හැකි ජාතිහු නො නැසී ඉදිරියට යති. කෘෂිකාර්මික කටයුතු සඳහා ප්‍රමුඛ අවධානයක් යොමුකොට ජනරජයේ ආහාර සුරක්‍ෂිතතාව තහවුරු කරගත යුතු බව මෙයට පෙර ලිපියකින් අවධාරණය කළේ එබැවිනි. සාමාන්‍ය, සාමකාමි කාලවකවානුවල දී යම් යම් ආහාර වර්ග ආනයනය කළ හැකි වුව ද ඉහතින් දක්වන ලද ආකාරයේ අස්ථාවරතා ඇතිවන විශේෂිත අවස්ථාවල දී මූලික ආහාර අවශ්‍යතා තම භූමිය තුළින් ම සළසාගැනීමට කවර ජාතියකට වුව සිදුවෙයි. එහෙයින් ආහාර සුරක්‍ෂිතතාව උදෙසා ප්‍රමුඛ අවධානය යොමුකිරීම ජනරජයේ ප්‍රධානතම වගකීමක් වෙයි.

කෘෂිකාර්මික කටයුතු මැනැවින් සිදුකළ පමණින් ආහාර සුරක්‍ෂිතතාව තහවුරු කළ නො හැකි ය. එයට අමතරව, ආහාර පිසීම සඳහා අවැසි ගින්දර පහසුවෙන් නිපදවාගැනීමට ඇති හැකියාව ද ජනරජය විසින් තහවුරු කළ යුතු වේ. ආහාර පිසීම සඳහා යොදාගනු ලබන දැල්විය හැකි වායු වර්ග ආනයනය කරන සහ ඒ සඳහා වෙනත් විකල්පයක් සූදානම් නැති වාතාවරණයක් තුළ ආහාර සුරක්‍ෂිතතාව පිළිබඳ ගැටලුව වෙනත් ස්වරූපයකින් ඉදිරියට ආ හැකි ය. එහෙයින් ආහාර පිසීම සඳහා වන ගිනි අවශ්‍යතාව තහවුරුකිරීමේ වගකීම ද ජනරජයට පැවැරෙයි.

ග්‍රාමීය ප්‍රදේශවල වසන ජනතාවට ඉතාමත් පහසුවෙන් දර භාවිතයට යොමුවිය හැකි ය. එසේ වුව ද, නාගරික ජනතාවට එම හැකියාව නොමැත. එහෙයින් එම ජනතාව ආනයනිත වායු වර්ග මත යැපෙමින් ආහාර පිසීමාදී කටයුතු සිදුකරති. එහෙත් විවිධ වූ හේතු නිසා මෙම ආනයන කාර්යයට බාධා එල්ලවිය හැකි ය. යුද කෝලාහල තත්ත්වයක් තුළ එම වායු වර්ග නිෂ්පාදනය සහ බෙදාහැරීම අඩාලවීම, ආනයනය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය විදේශ විනිමය පිළිබඳ ගැටලු ඉස්මතුවීම යනාදී හේතු නිසා මෙම ආනයන කාර්යය අඩාලවිය හැකි ය.

ජනතාවගේ ගිනි අවශ්‍යතා කාර්යක්‍ෂමව දේශීය වශයෙන් සපුරාගත හැකි නම් ඒ වෙනුවෙන් වැය කරනු ලබන විදේශ විනිමය ඉතිරි කරගැනීමට ද ජනරජයට හැකිවෙයි. තව ද, කුටුම්බ මට්ටමින් ගිනි නිපැදවීම කළ හැකි නම් වෙළෙඳපොළ බිඳවැටීම් අභිමුව වුව තම ආහාර අවශ්‍යතා සපුරාගැනීමට ජනතාවට හැකිවෙයි. මෙම ප්‍රවාදය තුළින් අවධාරණය කෙරෙන ස්ව-ශක්තිය වර්ධනය කරගැනීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවට ද මෙ කී කාර්යය අදාළ ය.

ජාතියේ ගිනි අවශ්‍යතාව කාර්යක්‍ෂම අයුරින් සපුරාලිය හැක්කේ දැනුම පාදක කරගත් විසඳුමක් මඟිනි. සෑම නිවසක ම සුලබව ඇති හෝ ඉතා පහසුවෙන් ලබාගත හැකි හෝ ද්‍රව්‍ය භාවිතයෙන් ගින්දර නිපැදවීමට සුදුසු ක්‍රම හඳුන්වාදීමේ දැනුම මේ සඳහා අදාළ වෙයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සෑම නිවෙසක ම පොල් කටු තිබේ. මෙවැනි දෙයක් භාවිතයෙන් දැල්විය හැකි කාර්යක්‍ෂම උදුන් හඳුන්වාදීම ඉතාමත් ප්‍රශස්ත විසඳුමක් වෙයි.

උක්ත කාර්යය කළ හැක්කේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කෙරෙන පර්යේෂණ සහ ඒ ඇසුරින් හඳුන්වාදෙන නව නිර්මාණ තුළිනි. මෙය නිසැකයෙන් ම අදාළ කාර්යය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය දැනුම පිළිබඳ කරුණකි. මෙවැනි දැනුම හඳුනාගැනීම, එම දැනුම තවදුරටත් වර්ධනය කිරීම මේ සඳහා අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වේ. මෙයට අදාළ පර්යේෂණ සහ සංවර්ධන කටයුතු සඳහා උගතුන් සහ නව නිර්මාණකරුවන් පෙළැඹවීම, අවශ්‍ය අරමුදල් සහ අනෙකුත් උපකාර ලබාදෙමින් ඒ අය දිරිමත්කිරීම, ඉහළ කාර්යාක්‍ෂමතාවක් සහිත නිර්මාණ මහා පරිමාණයකින් නිෂ්පාදන කර වෙළෙඳපොළට හඳුන්වාදීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය ව්‍යවසායකත්ව සංවර්ධන කටයුතු සිදුකිරීම ජනරජයේ විවිධ මට්ටම්වල දී සිදුකළ හැකි ය.

මේ අරභයා මුලින් ම කළ යුත්තේ මෙවැනි උදුන් නිර්මාණ සඳහා වන අවශ්‍යතාව අවධාරණය කර දැනුම සහ හැකියාව ඇති අය ඒ වෙනුවෙන් පොළඹවාගැනීම ය. එම පිරිස් දිරිගැන්වීම සඳහා වන නිශ්චිත ප්‍රතිපත්ති සම්පාදනය සහ අදාළ නිෂ්පාදන මාදිලි හඳුන්වා දී ඒවා ප්‍රචලිතකිරීම ඒ සමඟ ම සිදුකළ යුත්තේ ය. ග්‍රාමීය මට්ටමේ ජනතාව විසින් භාවිතා කරනු ලබන ප්‍රාථමික උදුන් වැඩිදියුණුකිරීම කෙරෙහි මෙන් ම ඒ වෙනුවට විකල්ප හඳුන්වාදීම කෙරෙහි ද අවධානය යොමු කළ හැකි ය. මෙම කිසිදු පර්යේෂණ කාර්යයක් සහ නිර්මාණ එක් වටයකින් අවසන් නොවන බව ද අවධාරණය කළ යුතුවෙයි. කාර්යක්‍ෂම ක්‍රම හඳුන්වාදිය හැක්කේ දීර්ඝ කාලයක් තුළ වර්ධනය කෙරෙන නිර්මාණවලිනි.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර 

අපිට ආණ්ඩුවෙන් බැහැලා යන්න වුවමනාවක් නෑ, අපි හදාගත්ත ආණ්ඩුව, අපි හදාගත්ත ජනාධිපතිතුමා, ඇයි අපි දාලා යන්නේ?  මැතිවරණයට කලින්, ආණ්ඩු හදන්න කලින් දීපු පොරොන්දු වෙනුවෙන් ආණ්ඩුව මෙහෙය වීම තමයි අපේ බලාපොරොත්තුව යැයි ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ ජාතික සංවිධායක රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා පැවසීය.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ අනුරාධපුර හොරොව්පතාන ආසන බල මණ්ඩලය අමතමින්ය. හොරොව්පතාන ආසන ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ ආසන සංවිධායක වීරකුමාර දිසානායක හා හිටපු පළාත් සභා අමාත්‍යය හේරත් බංඩා යන මහත්වරුන්ගේ සංවිධායකත්වයෙන් කහටගස්දිගිලිය ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේදී පැවැත්විණි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ ජාතික සංවිධායක රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක,  හිටපු අමාත්‍යයවරුන් වන තිස්ස කරල්ලියද්ද, වීරකුමාර දිසානායක යන මහත්වරුන් එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වීය.අනතුරුව හොරොව්පතාන ආසන බල මණ්ඩලය, භික්ෂු, තරුණ, කාන්තා, ගොවි හා ගුරු ආසන සංවිධාන සඳහා නව නිළධාරීන් පත් කර ගැනීම සිදු කෙරිණි.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා,

අද ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයට නැවත වතාවක් කලින් තිබුණ ඉල්ලුම ලැබිලා තියෙනවා.අපි බල මණ්ඩල පිහිටවලා ඒවායේ කියපු දේවල් මාධ්‍ය මගින් යන කොට අපිට පේනවා සමහරු වෙනත් උත්තර මේවාට දෙනවා.ඒ අයට මතක් කරලා දෙන්න ඕන, දුමින්ද දිසානායක ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ ජාතික සංවිධායක මිසක් වෙන පක්ෂයක ජාතික සංවිධායක නෙමෙයි.අපි ඉන්නේ සන්ධාන ආණ්ඩුවක, ඒ ආණ්ඩුවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයත් ඉන්නවා, තවත් පක්ෂ ගොඩකුත් ඉන්නවා.අපි ආණ්ඩුවේ එකට වාඩි වෙලා හිටියට, එකට ඇමතිකම් කළාට මගේ වගකීම ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය ගැන කථා කරන එක, පක්ෂය ප්‍රථිසංවිධානය කරන කොට පක්ෂයේ අතීතය, වර්ථමානය හා අනාගතය ගැන කථා කරන එක,මම ආණ්ඩුවේ ඇමතිවරයෙක් වුණා කියලා, ආණ්ඩුවේ කොටස්කාරයෙක් වුණා කියලා මට පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ අනාගත ජයග්‍රහණ ගැන කථා කරන එක නවත්වන්න,මට පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය අතීතයේ ලබපු ජයග්‍රහණ ගැන ආඩම්බරයෙන් කථා කරන එක නවත්වන්න,ඒ වගේම වර්ථමානයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය අද ඉන්නේ මෙතන, හැබැයි අපේ බලාපොරොත්තුව අපේ ඉලක්කය අනාගත ජයග්‍රහණයක් කියන එක මට නොකියා ඉන්න පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ,ඒ අයට අමතක වෙන්න පුලුවන් දුමින්ද දිසානායක කවුද කියලා? හැබැයි දුමින්ද දිසානායක ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ ජාතික සංවිධායක කියන එක මතක් කරන්න ඕනකම තියෙනවා.ඒ නිසා අපේ කට නවත්වන්න කාටවත් පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ, අපි කාගෙන්වත් අවසර ගන්න ඕනෙත් නෑ, අපි කාගෙන්වත් අහන්න ඕනකමකුත් නෑ, අපි මේක කිව්වට කමක් නැද්ද කියලා.මේක ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ ආසන බල මණ්ඩලය ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ අනාගත ගමන තීන්දු කරන අඩිතාලම ගැනයි අපි කථා කරන්නේ.

සමහර කළබල වෙච්ච අයට අපි කියන්න ඕනකමක් තියෙනවා.කලබල වෙන්න එපා, අපි සන්ධානයේ ඉන්නේ ඒ සන්ධානයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය කියලා කියන්නේ ඔය කථා කරන හැමෝගෙම මහගෙදර කියන එකත් නැවත නැවතත් පුන-පුනා අපි කියනවා.මහ ගෙදර අමතක කරන්න කාටවත් පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ,ඒ මහගෙදර වටිනාකම් ගැන කාටවත් අවතක්සේරු කරන්න පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ, ඒ මහගෙදර අතීතයේ ඉඳන් මේ රටට ලබා දුන් ජයග්‍රහණ පිළිබඳව ඒ අයට අඩු තක්සේරුවෙන් කථා කරන්න පුලුවන්කමකුත් නෑ,එහෙම කථා කරන අය ඉන්නවා නම් ඒ අය සැබෑම මහගෙදර සාමාජිකයෝද කියන එක අපට ප්‍රශ්න කරන්න වෙනවා.ඒ අයට උත්තර දෙනවාට වඩා අපිට කරන්න බොහෝ වැඩ තියෙනවා.

අපි ආණ්ඩුවේ ඉන්නකොට අපි ආණ්ඩුව ආරක්ෂා කරන්න බොහෝ කථා බහ කරනවා, අපි ආණ්ඩුව රකිනවා.මේ හැමදේම අපි කරනවා.හැබැයි ඒ වගේම තමයි ආණ්ඩුව වැරදි තීරණයක් ගන්නවා නම්, ඒ ගත්ත තීන්දුවෙන් මේ රටේ ජනතාවට යම් කිසි අපහසුතාවකට ලක් වෙන්න වෙනවා නම් අපි ආණ්ඩුවේ හිටියා කියලා අපිට කට වහගෙන ඉන්න පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ.ආණ්ඩුව හරි පාරට ගන්න එක, ආණ්ඩුව හරි පාරට යොමු කරන එක, ඒ වෙනුවෙන් නොපෙනන අයගේ ඇස් ඇරවන එක, ඒ වෙනුවෙන් හඬක් නඟන එක තමයි සන්ධානයේ ප්‍රධාන පක්ෂයක් වන, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ 14 දෙනෙක් ඉන්න පක්ෂයක් විදිහට අපේ වගකීම වෙන්නේ.ආණ්ඩුව හරි පාරට ගැනීම වෙනුවෙන් අපි ඉස්සරලාම හඬ ඇතුලේ පාවිච්චි කරනවා.ඒ හඬට ඇහුම්කන් දෙනවාද කියලා අපි බලනවා.හැබැයි අපේ හඬට ඇහුම්කන් දෙන්නේ නැත්නම් මේ වගේ එළියේ කථා බහ කරන්න වෙනවා.එළියේ කථා කරලා හිත රිදෙයි කියලා හිතුවොත්, අවුලක් වෙයි කියලා හිතුවොත් අපිට අවුල- ප්‍රශ්නය ලෙහා ගන්න බැරි වෙනවා.එහෙම නම් අපිට ඕනකම තියෙන්නේ අපි ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහත්තයා එක්ක එකතු වුණේ, අපි සන්ධාන ගහගෙන එකට අත්වැල් බැඳන් ඡන්දේ ඉල්ලුවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයක් විදිහට බොහෝ බලාපොරොත්තු ඇතිව, ඒ බලාපොරොත්තු පක්ෂයක බලාපොරොත්තු නෙමෙයි, රටක් දිනවන බලාපොරොත්තු.ඒ වෙනුවෙන් තමයි අපි අද කථා බහ කරන්නේ.

අපිට තව ප්‍රශ්න තියෙනවා ලිහා ගන්න, අපි ඒවා ඇතුලේ කථා බහ කරනවා. ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන්ව ජනාධිපති කරන කොට අපි පොහොට්ටුවත් එක්ක සන්ධාන ගත වෙන කොට, අපි ගෝඨාභය මහත්තයා එක්ක හරි පොහොට්ටුව එක්ක හරි හොරෙන් ගිහින් අපි ඩීල් දැම්මේ නෑ, හොරෙන් ගිහින් අපි කථා බහ කරේ නෑ, අපි බොහෝම විවෘතව රටටම පේන්න, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය විතරක් නෙමෙයි අපිත් එක්ක සන්ධාන ගත වෙලා ඉන්න පක්ෂ 14-15 ක් වගේ විශාල පක්ෂ සංඛ්‍යාවක් එක්ක මාධ්‍ය ඉදිරියේ අපි ගිවිසුම් ගත වුණේ,ඒ ිවුසුමේ තියෙන දේවල් අපි එළියට කිව්වා, ඒ ගිවිසුම් වල තියෙන්නේ ඇමතිකම් ගැන නෙමෙයි, වරදාන ගැන නෙමෙයි, ඒ ගිවිසුම් වල තියෙන්නේ රට හදන සුභවාදී වැඩ පිළිවෙල ගැන, ඒ වැඩපිළිවෙල සම්බන්ධවයි අපි ගෝඨාභය මහත්තයා එකක්යි, පොදු ජන පෙරමුණ එක්කයි එකතු වෙන්නේ.එහෙම නම් අපිට අයිතියක් නැද්ද සුභවාදී අරමුණක් වෙනුවෙන් එකතු වෙච්ච ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයට, ආණ්ඩුව ඇතුලේ අඩුවක් වෙනවා නම් ආණ්ඩුව වැරදි පාරක යනවා නම් ආණ්ඩුව කරන දේ වැරදි නම් වැරදි දේට වැරදියි නොකියා කියන්න වෙන වචනයක් තියෙනවාද? යන පාර වැරදි නම් ඒ පාර වැරදියි කියනවා ඇරෙන්න වෙන වචනයක් තියෙනවාද කියන්න.අපි වැරදි පෙන්නලා දෙන කොට රිදෙනවා වෙන්න පුලුවන් ඒ අය ගැසට් ගහන කොට තේරෙන්නේ නැද්ද ඒ වුණේ වරදක් කියලා.වරදක් නොවුනා නම් ගැසට් එකක් අනික් පැත්ත ගහන්න වුවමනාවක් තියෙනවාද? එහෙම නම් ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය විදිහට අපි ආණ්ඩුවේ කොටස්කාරයෝ වුණාට අපි, මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ අඩුපාඩු ගැන කථා කරන්නේ ආණ්ඩුවත් එක්ක බොහෝම ආදරයෙන්, සමහරු හිතන්න පුලුවන්  මේක ආණ්ඩුව විවේචනය කිරීමක්ද? මේ  බැහැලා යන්නද කථා කරන්නේ,නෑ අපිට බැහැලා යන්න වුවමනාවක් නෑ,අපි හදාගත්ත ආණ්ඩුව, අපි හදාගත්ත ජනාධිපතිතුමා, ඇයි අපි දාලා යන්නේ? අපිට ඕනකම තියෙන්නේ හදපු ආණ්ඩුව, මැතිවරණයට කලින් දීපු පොරොන්දු ටික, ආණ්ඩු හදන්න කලින් දීපූ පොරොන්දු ටික,වෙනුවෙන් ආණ්ඩුව මෙහෙය වීම තමයි අපේ බලාපොරොත්තුව.

මේ පොහොර අර්බුදයත් එක්ක අදටත් පොහොර ටිකක් ගන්න පුලුවන්කමක් නෑ, අද අපි ඉතාම කැමතියි මේ තීන්දුව ආපස්සට ගත්ත එක ගැන, අපි රසායනික පොහොර වෙනුවෙන් නෙමෙයි කථා බහ කරන්නේ.අපි කියන්නේ කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතයෙන් වස විසෙන් තොරව කරන වගාව ඉතාම හොඳයි, රසායනික පොහොර නවත්වනකොට අපට අවශ්‍ය කරන කාබනික පොහොර ටික දෙනවා නම්, ඒ ටික ගන්න තියෙනවා, ඒ ටික ලැබෙනවා  නම් අපි සූදානම් රසායනික පොහොර පැත්තකින් තියලා කාබනික පොහොර ටික ගහන්න.දැන් මේ තීණ්දුව අරන් කොච්චර කල්ද, අපේ කුඹුරු ටික දැන් සීසාලා වපුරලත් ඉවරයි.පළවැනි පොහොර වල කාලය පහු වෙලා.අදටත් අපිට ගන්න පොහොර නෑ,අදත් උදේ මං කථා කලා, අපිට නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් ලීටර් එක්ලක්ෂ හතලිස් දහසක් ඕන, හැබැයි දැනටත් අපිට ලැබිලා තියෙන්නේ ලීටර් හයදහස් හාරසිය ගානක් තව කොච්චර අපට ඕනද? අපි කිව්වේ මේ ක්‍රමවේදයේ අර්බුධය විතරයි, වැඩපිළිවෙලක් නැතිව, අවබෝධයක් නැතිව සැලැස්මක් නැතිව ක්‍රියාකිරීම නිසයි අපේ ගොවිමහත්වරුන්ට ප්‍රශ්නයක් තිබුනේ.හෙටත් පොහොර ටික තියෙනවා නම් ඒක රසායනිකද, කාබනිකද ප්‍රශ්නයක් නෑ, අපේ ගොවියෝ සූදානම් මේ ටික ගහලා වගා කරන්න.අපිට ගැටලුව තියෙන්නේ මේ හොයාගන්න සොච්චම් මුදලින් තමයි අවුරුදු කන්න වෙන්නේ, මේක නැති වුණොත්, අස්වැන්නට ආදායමක් නැති වුණොත් අවුරුද්දක් ජීවත් වෙන්න , අවුරුදු කන්න,  ළමයින්ට ඇඳුම් ටිකක් අරන් දෙන්න,  අලුත් අවුරුද්දට අලුතින් ජීවත් වෙන්න, අලුත් ගමනක් යන්න අපේ ගොවිමහත්වරුන්ට බැරි වෙනවා.අපේ ගොවි මහත්වරුන්ට තියෙන්නේ කාබනික වගාව නරකයි කියන ප්‍රශ්නයක් නෙමෙයි.යම් දෙයක් නවත්වනවා නම් ඊළඟට ගමන් කරන්න මොකටද කියලා අපිට පේන්න තියෙනවා නම්, දකින්න තියෙනවා නම්, විශ්වාසයක් තියෙනවා නම් අපි සූදානම් .

බඩඉරඟු ගොවීන්ට අපි රසායනික පොහොර මෙට්‍ර්ක්ටොන් 5000 ක් අපි වෙන් කර ගත්තා ඉතුරු වෙලා තිබුණ පොහොර වලින්.මේ සඳහා තීන්දුව අරගෙන දැන් මාස 1 ½ ක් පමණ වෙනවා, අපේ ගොවිමහත්වරු මුදල් බැඳලා, සති ගණන් බලන් ඉන්නවා.තාමත් ලංකාව ඇතුලේ ආයතනයක් සතුව තියෙන යූරියා ටික, ආණ්ඩුවේ ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ සිට ඇමතිවරු දක්වා තීන්දු කරලා, ලියුම් ගහලා, අනුමත කරලා, අවසර දීලාත් තාම ඒ කම්පැණියෙන් පොහොර ටික ගමට ගේන්න බැරි වෙලා තියෙනවා.ටී.වී එකේ රෑට මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ජා තියලා කිව්වට මේක බිමේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ නෑ කියන පණිවිඩය තමයි අපි ආණ්ඩුවට කියන්නේ.

අපි සමහර වෙලාවට ගොවියෝ ගැන කථා කරන කොට සමහරු කියනවා අපි ගොවියොත් එක්ක දේශපාලනය කරනවා කියලා,අපි ඉතාමත් පැහැදිලිව කියන්න ඕන ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය කියලා කියන්නේ ගොවියෝ රකින පක්ෂයක් කියන එක අපි ඉතාමත් ආඩම්බරයෙන් කියනවා.අපිව මොන විදිහට හංවඩු ගහන්න හැදුවත් ඔව් අපි ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය ගොවියොත් එක්ක දේශපාලනය කරනවා.සඟ, වෙද, ගුරු, ගොවි, කම්කරු කියන පංච මහා බලවේගය තමයි අපේ හයිය.ගොවියොන්ට අඩුපාඩුවක්, අසාධාරණයක් වෙන කොට ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ අපි ඒ වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී ඉන්නවා කියන එක අපි ආඩම්බරයෙන් කියනවා, අපි අතීතයෙත්, වර්ථමානයේත් කරනවා, අනාගතයේදීත් ගොවියාට අසාධාරණයක් වෙන තැන අපි හිටගන්නවා.හැබැයි අපි හිටගන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ ගොවියෝ වෙනුවෙන් විතරක් නෙමෙයි කියන එකත් අපි කියන්න ඕනකම තියෙනවා.අපි හිටගන්නේ මේ රටේ සමස්ථ ගොවි ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් කියන එක ආඩම්බරයෙන් කියන්න ඕනකම තියෙනවා යැයි පැවසීය.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ හිටපු අමාත්‍යය තිස්ස කරල්ලියද්ද මහතා,

එක්තරා දවස දුමින්ද දිසානායක මැතිතුමාගේ නිවසට ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා ආවා.ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා දුමින්ද දිසානායක මැතිතුමා හමුවෙලා මට මේ කරන උදව්ව කවදාවත් මං අමතක කරන්නේ නෑ, මට සහයෝගය ලබා දෙන්න කියලා.”ඉල්ලීමක් කලා.ඒ වෙලාවේ දුමින්ද ඇමතිතුමා මගේ මූණ දිහාත් ටික වෙලාවක් බලන් ඉඳලා අවසානයේ තීන්දුවක් දුන්නා, අපි අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ඒ වගකීම භාර ගන්නවා කියලා දුමින්ද ඇමතිතුමා කිව්වා.එදායින් පස්සේ අපි වේදිකා ගානේ ගිහින් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන්ගේ ජයග්‍රහණය වෙනුවෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය කටයුතු කෙරුවා.අද ඉනිමඟ තියලා උඩට නැගලා ඉනිමඟට පයින් ගහන පිරිසක් අද දකිනවා.ඔය හැමකෙනෙක්ම රජකම් කෙරුවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්සයට පිං සිද්ද වෙන්න.ජනාධිපතිවරු බිහි වුණා ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයට පිං සිද්ධ වෙන්න.අපි රජ කරන කොට ප්‍රධාන පක්ෂයක් විදිහට තමයි බලය කර ගෙන ගියේ.ජනාධිපතිවරයා පත් කර ගන්න, 2/3 ක බලයක් හදා ගන්න ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය විශාල පිටුවහලක් වුණා කියන එක මතක් කරලා දෙන්න ඕන, එදත් මම කිව්වා අපි තනියම තරඟ කරමු කියලා කිව්වා.මම නම් කියන්නේ ඉදිරියේ තියෙන සෑම මැතිවරණයකටම ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය පක්ෂයක් ලෙස තනියම තරඟ කරමු කියන ප්‍රකාශය මං කරන්න ඕනයැයි පැවසීය.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ වීරකුමාර දිසානායක හිටපු අමාත්‍යයතුමන්,

මේ වන විට දේශපාලනය නොහිතූ ලෙස උණුසුම් වෙමින් තිබෙනවා.ආණ්ඩුව වැටෙයිද කියලා ජනතාව නිතර අහනවා.ජනතාව අතර සැකයක් තියෙනවා.ආණ්ඩුවේ ඉන්න ඔලමොට්ටල හාදයොන්ට මේක තේරෙනවාද මං දන්නේ නෑ,ජනතාව හිතනවා මේක බ්‍රේක් ඩවුන් වෙයි කියලා.සමහර අය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කථා කරන ඒවා දැක්කම මෙලෝ රහක් නෑ,ඒ ගොල්ල වෙනම ලෝකයක ජීවත් වෙන්නේ.ජනතාව ඉන්න බිම නෙමෙයි ඒ අය ඉන්නේ, කොහේ ඉන්නවාද කියලා හිතාගන්න බෑ,පහුගිය දවස් වල ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයටත් ගහනවා, අනෙක් පක්ෂ වලටත් ගහනවා, ආණ්ඩුව හදපු, මේක දිනන්න උස්සල තියපු හැමෝමට අනිනවා.ඇතුලේ ඉන්න මිනිස්සුන්ට ගහලා ගහලා මේක කොහෙටද ගෙනියන්නේ, මේ හාදයොන්ට පිස්සුද? මේ දේශපාලන ගමනක් නේ යන්නේ, මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ඉන්න අය තාම ජීවත් වෙන්නේ 2018, මහින්ද සුළඟ ආවා, ඒ සුළං රැල්ලේ මේ ගොල්ල පාවෙනවා.ඒ ගොල්ල දන්නේ නෑ ඒ රැල්ලේ ආපු ගොවියා, කම්කරුවා, කාන්තාවෝ කොහෙද ඉන්න කියලා මේ අය දන්නේ නෑ.ජනතාව ඉන්නේ දැන් 2025 , ඒ අය බලං ඉන්නවා බංකර් හදාගෙන පොලු තියන් ඉන්නවා.මේ ගොල්ල ඒවා දන්නේ නෑ ශ්‍රී ලංකා එකටත් ගහනවා, රට දැන් සුරපුරයක් කියලා ෆුල් චූන් එකේ ඉන්නවා,කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය හොඳට කෙරෙනවා, බඩු මිල අඩුයි කියලා හිතාගෙන එයාලා අනෙක් පක්ෂත් තරහා කරගෙන යනවා.එහෙම නැත්නම් මේ අය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂටයි, ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂටයි ඇණලා හතර ගාතෙන් වට්ටවන්න හිතනවා.නැත්නම් වටේ ඉන්න මිනිස්සුන්ට බනින්න ඕනද? වට්ටලා වෙන කොහෙට හරි හේත්තු වෙන්නනේ තියෙන්නෙ.ඔය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කෑගහන අය යන තැනකට හේත්තු වෙනවා.ඒ අයට හරි පුරුදුයි දණ නමස්කාර, මුඛය බිම තියලා අදෝ මුඛය උඩ තියාගෙන හරි පුරුදුයි.මේ අය ඕන කෙනෙක්ට දණ ගහලා වදිනවා.ඔය හැමෝම ජනතාව ඉන්න තැන ගැන හිතලා කටයුතු කරනවා නම් හොඳයි.ශ්‍රී ලංකා එකට බැන්නා කියලා රට හදන්න ගෙනාව වැඩපිළිවෙල දිනන්නේ නෑ,ඇත්තම කථාව මේ අයට කියන්න දේවල් නෑ, ඒ නිසා ලඟ ඉන්න එකාට කොනිත්තනවා.අර සමහර වෙලාවට නිකං ඉන්න බැරිකමට ලඟ තියෙන ගස් පතුරු ගහන්නේ ඒ වගේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා එක පතුරු ගහනවා.මේ අයට රටට කියන්න දෙයක් නැති නිසා දවසේ වොයිස් කට් එකක් මාධ්‍යයේ යන්න ඕන කියලා හිතලා ශ්‍රී ලංකා එකට බනිනවා.ශ්‍රී ලංකා එකට බැනලා මේ ප්‍රශ්නය ගොඩදාන්න බෑ, දවසින් දවස මේ ප්‍රශ්න පිරිහිලා වලපල්ලට යනවා.ඔය කරන වැඩෙන් ගමේ ඉන්න ශ්‍රී ලංකා කාරයත් ආණ්ඩුවට බනනින තැනට පත් වෙලා මේ ආණ්ඩුව තවත් වේගෙන් කඩා වැටෙනවා .ඒ නිසා ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය ප්‍රමුඛ නව සන්ධානයක් නිර්මාණය කරන්න කාලය ඇවිල්ලා තියෙනවා යැයිද පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ පළාත් පාලන නියෝජිතයින් ඇතුළු පාක්ෂිකයන් විශාල පිරිසක් සහභාගී වී සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

‘‘දේශපාලනයේ සැඟවුණු කතා කියන කතා’’ එහි කර්තෘ ගුණපාල තිස්සකුට්ටිආරච්චි මහතා විසින් අද (29) දින පෙරවරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා වෙත පිළිගන්වනු ලැබීය.

රාජ්‍ය ඇමතිවරයෙක්, මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් ලෙස මෙන්ම රාජ්‍ය සහ අර්ධ රාජ්‍ය සේවයේ විවිධ තනතුරු දරමින් සේවයේ නිරතව සිටියදී ඇසූ පිරූ ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය දේශපාලනයේ සැඟවී ගිය ත්‍රාසජනක, රසබර  හා විවිධ සිදුවීම් පදනම්කර ගෙන ගුණපාල තිස්සකුට්ටිආරච්චි මහතා මෙම කෘතිය රචනා කර ඇත.

1981 වසරේ පැවති දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන සභා මැතිවරණයේ දී හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන සභාවේ විධායක මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් ලෙස පත්ව 1989 වසරේ පැවති මහා මැතිවරණයෙන් හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ප්‍රථම වරට තේරී පත්වූ ගුණපාල තිස්සකුට්ටිආරච්චි මහතා 1990 වසරේ දී පරිසර හා පාර්ලිමේන්තු කටයුතු රාජ්‍ය ඇමතිවරයා ලෙස පත්කළේය.

ගුණපාල තිස්සකුට්ටිආරච්චි මහතා කැලණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ජන සන්නිවේදන පිළිබඳ ශාස්ත්‍රවේදී ගෞරව උපාධිධාරියෙකි.

By P.K.Balachandran/Ceylon Today

Colombo, November 29: There is no doubt as to where certain Muslim communities in Sri Lanka, such as the Malays, Bohras, Memons and Pathans, came from. But theories on the origin of Sri Lankan or Ceylon Moors, who are the majority among Muslims in the island, are both varied and controversial.

Today, the Ceylon Moors emphatically claim that they are of Arab origin. But Sri Lankan scholar Ameer Ali says that they are of mixed origin in his paper in Asian Studies entitled: The Genesis of the Muslim Community in Ceylon (Sri Lanka): A Historical Summary.

Ameer Ali says that the Ceylon Moors were initially known by the Tamil name Sonahar and also by the Sinhalese name Marakkalaminusu. Some were known as Hambankaraya in Sinhala and Saamaankarar in Tamil, the former stemming from their arrival by Sampans (Malay boats) and the latter because they sold goods (Saamaan is Goods in Tamil). Colloquially, they were known as Tambi or Kakka.

Ameer Ali says the term Moor came from the Latin root ‘Mauri’ which referred to the people of the Roman province of Mauretania which included present-day Western Algeria and North-East Morocco. The Portuguese chronicler about Ceylon, Fernao De Queyroz, said that the Muslims of Ceylon were called ‘Mouros’ as they were from Muritania”.  Eventually ‘Mouros’ became ‘Moors’ under British dispensation.   

However, the Ceylon Muslims themselves adopted the term ‘Moor’ much later, due to a local political exigency at the end of the 19 th., Century. There was an urgent need to differentiate themselves from the Ceylon Tamils. In 1885 and 1888, the Tamil leader Ponnambalam Ramanathan floated the theory that Ceylon Muslims were not a distinct ethnic or racial group but were Tamils converted to Islam. If the government were to accept Ramanathan’s thesis, the Muslims would not be able to get representation in the legislature where the nominees were chosen on a communal basis. Muslims would have been subsumed under the category Tamils”. The term Moor, favored by the Muslim leaders, found its place in the Ceylon Citizenship Act in 1949.     

However, among Tamil speakers, the Ceylon Muslims are known as  Sonakar. It could be a Tamil pronunciation of the Arabic word Sunni” an Islamic sect. Tamil-speaking Muslims of both Ceylon and India call themselves Sunnattu jama’attar (Those who belong to the Sunni sect). There is an other theory that Sonaka is a Tamil corruption of the Sanskrit word ‘Yavana’ a term used for foreigners from the West.

Moors are also called ‘Marakkalaminusu’ or by the Tamil name Marakkayar which means people who came by or plied Marakkalam or wooden vessels. The Maraikkayars of South India trace their origin also to the Arabic term for boat, ‘Markab’.   

There is another theory which says that Muslims came to Tamil Nadu and Ceylon as refugees from Iraq in the 7 th. and 8^th.Centuries AD. But pre-Islamic Arabs had connections with Ceylon much before that. Ameer Ali quotes Joseph Desomogyi to say that the Arab connection in the Indian Ocean goes back to the days of the Phoenicians. ” The Arabs traded between Madagascar and Sumatra via Ceylon as early as 310 BC.

But the most significant of all the references is that which Geiger quotes from the ancient Pali chronicle Mahavamsa; according to which in the fourth century BC, Anuradhapura, the Sinhalese capital, had near its western gate, a ground set apart for the Yonas (Yavanas or Sonakar) who were Arab traders.

Besides the Arabs, traders from Persia also had contacts with Ceylon before the birth of Islam. Just before the advent of Islam, Persians dominated the Indo-Arabian trade as intermediaries for the silk trade between China and the West”. And Ceylon was the entrepot for sea trade, between China and the Near East. The Moroccan traveler Ibn Batuta, who was in Ceylon in 1344 A.D, reported that King Aria Chakravarthi of Jaffna spoke Persian.

Indian Connection

On the Indo-Arab connection, historian K.M.Panikkar says that the similarity in the peculiar nature of the social organization in pre-Islamic Arabia and on the western coast of Southern India, especially in Malabar, facilitated the free mingling of the Arabs with the women of South-West India.”  He further says: it is reasonable to suppose that at least after the time of Caliph Omar, trade with Malabar was exclusively in the hands of the Moors.” After the  7 th., Century, Arab traders came in large numbers, married Indian women and settled as permanent communities.

The Mapilla (Moplahs) Muslims of Kerala and the Lebbes and Maraikkayars of the Coromandel coast are the descendants of these settlements. Ameer Ali notes that in Ceylon, many of the Moors in the 19 th., Century carried the name Lebbe or Maraikkar or both as part or parts of their full names (such as for example, Segu Lebbe Maraikkar Muhammad Ali Maraikkar and Ahamathu Lebbe Meera Lebbe). They spoke the Tamil language and even physically resembled the South Indian Muslims.

A majority of the 19 th. Century Moors in Ceylon must have been the descendants of the Maraikkayars of the Coromandel Coast (in Tamil Nadu) and particularly of Porto Novo, Nagore, Muttuppettai and Kayalpatnam,” he says.

In the 12 th. and 13 th., centuries, the Muslims in Ceylon had attained the highest degree of their commercial prosperity and political influence” in the island, Ameer Ali notes. This was also the period when the Muslims on the opposite coast had similar success in the economic and political spheres.  

Panikkar says that the rise of the Zamorin of Calicut (in Kerala) as the leading ruler on the West Coast of India in the 13 th. Century was possible partly because of the support of the Moorish settlers who  contributed so largely to the prosperity and power of his kingdom.” The Zamorin’s naval forces were under Muslim command, and it was with the help of these Muslim mariners, that he was able to defeat his enemies. The Zamorin’s Muslim fleet had come to the aid of Ceylonese kings in their fight against the Portuguese. Indo-Ceylon trade passed from the hands of the Hindu traders to those of the Muslims.

Amer Ali points out that it is significant that a tradition relating to the Muslim village of Beruwela on the west coast of Ceylon speaks of a colony of Muslims from Kayalpatnam in Tamil Nadu settling there towards the middle of the 14 th., Century.

Hence it is not unreasonable to conclude that Muslims from South India must have traded with and sometimes settled here in the coastal districts of Ceylon between the 12 th., and 13 th.,centuries. As a result of this influx from India, the strain of Persian and Arab blood in the community must have been gradually weakened as it happened in South India itself. Thus when the Portuguese arrived in Ceylon at the beginning of the 16 th., Century the port of Colombo had developed into a colony of Moors of Indian origin.”  

Because of Portugues and Dutch hostility, from the 16 th. to the 19 th, Century, until the British arrived in early 19 th. century, the influx of Muslims from India on the Ceylonese West coast was limited. But the East coast was open as Portuguese power there was weak. This enabled the Ceylon Moors to trade with the East Coast of India freely.

It is evident that the majority of the Moors who lived in Ceylon at the beginning of the nineteenth century were the descendants of those Indian Muslims who came centuries earlier and who were themselves of mixed origin, while a minority was of either Arab or Persian descent amongst whom some had come long before Islam was born and some thereafter,” Ameer Ali concludes.

Courtesy MailOnline

Sri Lanka is investigating a sharp rise in kitchen explosions caused by cooking gas that have reportedly killed at least one person and wounded dozens of others, parliament heard Monday.

The island is in the grip of an economic crisis with serious shortages of fossil fuels and other essential goods because of depleted foreign currency reserves.

Opposition lawmakers have blamed increased concentrations of propane in liquified petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders used for cooking, relative to the more expensive butane.

The government is now probing LPG supplies after a dozen blasts linked to kitchen stoves, consumer affairs minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna told parliament.

“During a short space of time there has been a very sharp increase in gas accidents,” he said.

“We don’t want to have 10 to 15 homes blowing up daily, so I have ordered an investigation.”

An official in Sri Lanka’s consumer affairs agency, who asked not to be named, told AFP that higher concentrations of propane were increasing pressure on LPG cylinders, causing leaks that led to explosive fires.

State-run gas agency Litro has denied changing the proportion of butane and propane in domestic gas cylinders, instead blaming poorly maintained stoves and faulty pipes.

Local media reports said a 19-year-old woman was killed after a gas cylinder leaked and exploded in Sri Lanka’s east last week.

Police have denied the death was due to a gas leak.

Consumers have faced serious LPG shortages in recent months with authorities struggling to find foreign exchange to finance gas and crude oil imports.

Sri Lanka’s only oil refinery shut for the first time in its 52-year history this month because it could not source dollars to import crude.

The island’s economy shrank last year as the pandemic took hold and tourism nosedived.

A resulting foreign exchange shortage prompted authorities to shore up Sri Lanka’s trade imbalance with a broad ban on imports, including some food and agricultural products.

That decision eventually sparked food shortages, with supermarkets rationing rice and the price of some staples doubling earlier this month.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Prices of rice are seen displayed

• With the CAA announcement of the extraordinary gazette, the price of rice hiked to 130 rupees
• Former Director of the Department of Agriculture Department K. B. Goonarathne underscores the possibility of selling Nadu at 90 rupees a kilo
• If the Government can grant concessions to the millers for milling and transporting rice Nadu could be sold at 90 rupees a kilo
• When the PMB delays buying paddy private traders have the opportunity to buy paddy 
• Now farmers have no paddy at all because they have sold every stock to private traders
• The mill in Pallewatta, Hasalaka, which is the best mill in South Asia, has been left to decay
• Since these traders made their purchases at higher prices they have to sell rice at high prices
• 15000 metric tons of rice has been imported so far

The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) issuing a gazette on September 2 announced that a maximum retail price for rice would be imposed to regulate the increasing price of rice. The gazette was issued on the orders of Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Chairman Maj. Gen. D. M. Shantha Dissanayake under Section 20(5) of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No 09 of 2003 imposing a price of 125 rupees for a kilo of Keeri Samba, 103 rupees for red and white Samba, 98 rupees for white and red Nadu and boiled Samba and 95 rupees for white and red raw rice. 

However rice was not available in the market at those prices. The selling price of a kilo of Nadu rice which was made 115 rupees subsequently started to rise as a result. The Cabinet decided to import hundred thousand metric tons of rice on September 28 to regulate the price of rice. However the Government later decided to remove the maximum Retail Price (MRP) for rice issuing gazette no 2247/16. With the CAA announcement of the extraordinary gazette, the price of rice hiked to 130 rupees.

“The price of rice would be controlled in the coming two weeks as the Government is importing rice. Even though the Government withdrew from regulating the price of rice it does not mean that we will allow for any price increase which would be unfair for the consumer –  Lasantha Alagiyawanna State Minister”

Even though the Government said that 15000 metric tons of rice had been imported so far that does not seem to help regulate the price of rice. The price of Nadu has increased up to 140 rupees a kilo. While several parties are accusing the Government of being unable to regulate the price of rice former Director of the Department of Agriculture Department K. B. Goonarathne has pointed out the possibility of selling Nadu at 90 rupees a kilo. Paddy is cultivated annually in around nine hundred thousand hectares during the Maha season and five hundred thousand hectares in the Yala season with a total of 1.4 million hectares being cultivated. A farmer has to bear a cost of 125,000 rupees to cultivate paddy within a hectare and it can further be reduced by 30,000 rupees when using his labour and handwork. The harvest amounts to 4500 kilos of paddy per hectare. If the harvest is sold keeping with the Government regulated prices an income of 270,000 rupees can be generated. However there are several conditions and steps to that process such as retaining 14% of wetness, transporting paddy to the buying area, storing paddy in bags provided by the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB). Other than that receiving money might be delayed and farmers would have to remain in queues. Therefore farmers are unwilling to give paddy to the PMB,” said Goonarathne who added that even if the farmers supply PMB with paddy what is received limited.
Large-scale paddy traders commence buying paddy less than at the state guaranteed prices with the commencement of harvesting. When the PMB delays buying paddy- despite the presence of state guaranteed prices- imposing their conditions, private traders have the opportunity to buy paddy at low prices. When the Government begins purchasing paddy the large-scale traders increase the price of paddy. The Government does not purchase all the stocks at high prices, but merely pretends to buy and makes plans to regulate the price of paddy. The Government bought paddy this time at a price ranging between 38-48 rupees. Most farmers had sold paddy during the last season at a price low as 48 rupees. These traders who buy stocks of paddy at low prices tell everyone that paddy was purchased at 60-80 rupees. Millers who buy paddy at a low price do not take the stocks straight to stores and instead store them in farmers’ houses and release them to the market whenever necessary. Now farmers have no paddy at all because they have sold every stock to private traders. However the PMB and the Government claim that farmers are earning a healthy income at present by selling paddy at 60-80 rupees per kilo. Farmers do not earn the stipulated profit. The paddy stocks belong to private traders and large scale millers. Private traders profit by selling paddy stocks at prices ranging from 60-90 rupees after purchasing the paddy stocks from farmers at a buying price ranging between 38-48 rupees. Since these traders made their purchases at higher prices they have to sell rice at high prices. Hence they profit excessively from both paddy and rice, said Goonarathne. 

“The Government knows well about this mafia and will not take any steps to put an end to that. The Government itself is engaged in a fraud. People were deceived using the media when the state claimed that paddy stores were being raided. The fine for those who sell rice at higher prices was increased to 100,000 rupees. However the law was not enforced – K. B. Goonarathne former Director of the Department of Agriculture Department ”

The Government knows well about this mafia and will not take any steps to put an end to that. The Government itself is engaged in a fraud. People were deceived using the media when the state claimed that paddy stores were being raided. The fine for those who sell rice at higher prices was increased to 100,000 rupees. However the law was not enforced. In the end the price regulating gazette became a joke,” Goonarathne said.

Selling paddy at 48 rupees was profitable for farmers and they were quite satisfied. They earn an income of 216,000 rupees from a hectare by selling paddy at 48 rupees. A kilo of Nadu paddy produces 65% of rice which amounts to 650 grams of Nadu rice. 64% of raw rice, 63% of Samba, 61% of Keeri Samba can be produced similarly. Around 1.4 kilos of paddy is required to produce a kilo of rice. The machinery expenditure and other expenditures to produce a kilo of rice is considerably less. Goonarathna said that the cost of transporting rice is calculated at 2 rupees per kilo.

The production of rice costs 95 rupees per kilo when paddy is bought at 60 rupees a kilo. But Nadu is sold in the market at 140 rupees a kilo. If the Government can grant concessions to the millers for milling and transporting rice, Nadu can be sold at 90 rupees a kilo. If the guaranteed price for paddy is 50 Rupees, rice can be produced at 80 rupees a kilo and can be issued at 90 rupees a kilo; guaranteeing an extra profit of 10 rupees. If the Government can bear the cost of milling and transporting rice and price of rice can be regulated and the rice mafia could be defeated. Goonarathna said that imposing a guaranteed price on rice as similar to paddy during harvesting can help regulate the price of rice. 

State-owned mills left to decay

The Government only has to follow a simple procedure to break the rice monopoly. I have informed the officers of the Ministry of Agriculture, but all that was in vain. The rice mafia can be defeated by giving farmers’ associations under the Department of Agrarian Development milling machines at a concessionary price and by allowing them to operate their associations. There should be a procedure to strengthen small-scale mills in the country to halt the rice mafia which is operated by around ten large scale mills. The Government should establish state mills in areas such as Ampara, Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Hambantota and Mahaweli. There is no need to have new mills, but instead the state-owned mills left to decay should be taken in for use again. The PMB mill in Ampara can be reused. The mill in Pallewatta, Hasalaka, which is the best mill in South Asia, has been left to decay. Sathosa has a mill which can produce 100,000 kilos of rice per day. None of these mills are operating at present. Milling the paddy stocks purchased by the PMB using them can benefit the Government. The Government has closed down those mills and are using the service of private millers to mill state owned paddy stocks. 

“Even if the Government says that paddy would be bought at 50 rupees that does not happen. Large scale millers increase the price of rice claiming that they had purchased paddy at high prices. If the paddy purchasing price and the price of rice can be regulated rice can be sold at 90 rupees a kilo. The Government is allowing large scale millers to carry out a rice mafia – B. A. Susil Jayatissa Badulla District Cooperative Paddy and Rice Producers Society Ltd President”

The rice control price since 2013 had been 68 rupees and it had remained unchanged for years. But it has changed now. A total of 15,770,285 kilos of rice were imported in 2020 incurring an expense of 1,936,087,679 rupees. The rice requirement for this year was 2.36 million metric tons and the expected rice production was 5 million metric tons. The expected harvest in the Yala season from 500,306 hectares was 20,774,721 metric tons and during the Maha season it was 360,000 metric tons from 800,000 hectares. It is questionable whether the expected targets could be met in the Maha season given the fertilizer crisis.” he added. 

Speaking regarding this issue the Badulla District Cooperative Paddy and Rice Producers Society Ltd President B. A. Susil Jayatissa said that Nadu paddy is sold at 80 rupees a kilo and Samba paddy at 90 rupees a kilo. Now farmers have no paddy. Even if some have paddy that is just a small amount. Small millers were not given money to purchase paddy after the regulated price was removed. Large scale millers possess paddy now. They buy paddy at 35 rupees during harvesting. Even if the Government says that paddy would be bought at 50 rupees that does not happen. 

Large scale millers increase the price of rice claiming that they had purchased paddy at high prices. If the paddy purchasing price and the price of rice can be regulated rice can be sold at 90 rupees a kilo. Wet paddy was purchased during the previous season in Ampara at 38 rupees and dry paddy at 42 rupees. The Government is allowing large scale millers to carry out a rice mafia. They said rice could be issued at 110 rupees per kilo as the wholesale price and 115 rupees as the retail price after buying paddy at 62.50 rupees a kilo. But the the price of Nadu had gone up to 140 rupees within a month.

Now traders have paddy which they have bought at 55-60 rupees. They sell Nadu at 80 rupees, Samba at 90 rupees and Keeri Samba at 100 rupees a kilo. Farmers sold their paddy at 38-60 rupees per kilo. Farmers do not earn any profit. Consumers are also exploited. The Government is helping the rice mafia. The traders released rice at a wholesale price of 110 rupees a kilo produced from paddy bought at less than 55 rupees. Those paddy stocks were purchased during the previous season at a low price. But the traders said that paddy was bought at 62.50 rupees. It is true that some stocks were purchased for that price. This season’s paddy has not been milled yet. They are trying to show that all the stocks were brought at higher prices. Small-scale millers cannot sell rice at 110 rupees a kilo after purchasing paddy at 62.50 rupees. 

“The current price of paddy is 70-80 rupees. We bought paddy at 55-56.50 rupees a kilo. We did not increase the price of paddy competitively. When private traders buy paddy at high prices, farmers earn a profit. We should not interfere as a Government when farmers earn a good price for their paddy but we should interfere only when they get a lesser price, – Duminda Priyadarshana PMB Vice-Chairman”

We have no chance in this competition. The programme on buying paddy through District Secretaries was also discouraged. We are not given loans or the loans we have applied for are delayed. By the time we get money to purchase paddy, large-scale farmers would have already bought paddy at a low price. They also increase the price of paddy and as a result we fail to buy paddy. Even if we buy paddy at those prices, we cannot issue rice at low price. If the Government can at least grant concessions covering milling and transport fees we can sell rice at 90 rupees a kilo. Small-scale millers have withdrawn from buying paddy and producing rice. The Government is not offering any concession. Even if a concession is given it is delayed. Most of the small-scale mills have closed down. Some are used to make coconut fiber. In some mills the buildings have been flattened and the lands are sold in lots. This is the present situation.” Jayatissa  added. 
When inquired on this matter Dudley Sirisena, a major rice producer in the country, turned down a request to talk to the media.

PMB Vice-Chairman Duminda Priyadarshana said that 1.6 kilos of paddy is required to produce a kilo of rice. When paddy is bought at 50 rupees a kilo the cost of rice production is 80 rupees. 9-10 rupees are spent on milling and on other expenses. A mill has to spend 90 rupees to produce a kilo of rice with 2 rupees set aside for transportation. Wholesale traders sell rice at three rupees more than the actual price and the retail traders make a profit of more than two rupees which results in a total profit of around 10 rupees being made. It is unthinkable to sell rice at 90 rupees a kilo after purchasing paddy at 50 rupees. The PMB has never had mills. The one in Ampara is used to store paddy. Our paddy is also milled in private mills. If we milled them, it would cost 8-10 rupees. But Nadu is milled at 4.50-5 rupees a kilo. When small and medium scale millers do not have paddy, we mill the stocks we have and release them to the market; usually in December. Raw rice is milled at 2.50 – 3.00 rupees a kilo and if we were to do that it would cost us 5-6 rupees.

The current price of paddy is 70-80 rupees. We bought paddy at 55-56.50 rupees a kilo. We did not increase the price of paddy competitively. When private traders buy paddy at high prices, farmers earn a profit. We should not interfere as a Government when farmers earn a good price for their paddy but we should interfere only when they get a lesser price. If the rice price is regulated properly, the paddy price would not have increased like this. Paddy is no longer available at 55-60 rupees in the country. Nadu Paddy is priced above 70 rupees a kilo. That is why the price of rice has increased. 

15000 metric tons of rice has been imported so far. Rice is issued at low prices through Sathosa. The Government has given concessions to millers when they obtain loans and pay tariffs. Yet the price has increased. A price hike is good for farmers, but it affects the consumers. The price of paddy has increased owing to the competition between millers. 35% of the harvest would be obtained during the Yala season and 65% during the Maha season. Farmers did not sell paddy given the fertilizer crisis. There was a price hike for purchased paddy and the price of rice is decided upon relatively. The price of rice has increased at present because paddy is bought at high prices. If concessions are to be given to control prices of rice to whom should they be given? Both farmers and millers are given concessions.

The CAA imports rice and regulates the price. If a regulated price can be imposed on rice similar to paddy, there will be a solution to this matter,” said Priyadarshana. 
Our attempts to contact the CAA Chairman Major General D. M. Shantha Dissanayake were futile. 
Speaking regarding these issues State Minister of Cooperative Services, Marketing Development and Consumer Protection, Lasantha Alagiyawanna said that the price of rice had increased amidst the presence of a regulated price. The price of rice was subject to a hike as the price of paddy, which was at 32 rupees, increased to 70 rupees. The price of rice would be controlled in the coming two weeks as the Government is importing rice. Even though the Government withdrew from regulating the price of rice it does not mean that we will allow for any price increase which would be unfair for the consumers.

Small-scale millers do not have facilities to dry wet paddy. We have made plans to provide them with those facilities. The plans for that are underway. Our plan is to protect the small and medium-scale millers who consist 65% of the total number of millers. Around 400 small and medium-scale millers have faced difficulties in repaying bank loans. They do not get any more bank loans. We cannot interfere in this regard. But we have given concessions to those who have been unable to pay back loans on time by decreasing interest rates. These millers are in difficulty as rice was imported by the previous Government during harvesting. I have interfered in matters regarding unfair price hikes as the Consumer Protection Minister to protect the consumers. It was proved recently that gazettes cannot regulate prices. Several large-scale millers are influencing the price of rice. Therefore we imported rice to control the price of rice. Nadu is sold at 99 rupees a kilo at Sathosa outlets. The price of rice would eventually go down.” the state minister said.

Different types of rice sold at the market

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The ferry tragedy in Kinniya on November 23 and the current fertilizer crisis are two cases in point that are sufficient to explain how authorities in Sri Lanka view issues affecting the ordinary people and how they save their skin putting the blame on the people themselves, when things end up in disasters.

The ferry service in Kinniya has been run by a private operator subsequent to the laying of foundation stone for a bridge across Kurinchankerny lagoon. According to Rural Roads and other Infrastructure State Minister Nimal Lanza prior to the commence of construction of the bridge people in the area had used boats to cross the lagoon. And the previous government had laid foundation stone for a bridge and according to State Minister, the current government had laid foundation stone again in April this year to commence the construction work of the bridge.
With that the people had been given a three and a half km long temporary road to use until the bridge is constructed. The Minister says that Road Development Authority (RDA) had turned down requests made by the Kinniya Pradeshiya Sabha and Kinniya Urban Council to operate a ferry service and a barge respectively as they were not safe. However, the Chairman of the Kinniya Urban Council had given permission for the ferry service on his own and the operator had transported the passengers even without life jackets which ultimately claimed seven lives.

Six people including four school children had died and 20 others injured instantaneously when the ferry carrying as many as 35 people capsized in the lagoon. And the Authorities first arrested the owner and the two operators of the ferry and later arrested the Chairman of the UC. Now the politicians are talking politics over the incident while there are unanswered questions related to the incident. 

With the initial refusal of permission by the RDA for ferry service and barge service, it seems that the RDA is the authority that has to grant permission for such services. Yet, when the UC Chairman overruled the RDA’s decision by granting permission for the ferry service, the RDA which earlier decided that it was unsafe, turned a blind eye to it, while its officials and employees were around, constructing the bridge. The government politicians who are now attempting to take political mileage from the tragedy too were unmoved. It was as if they let the tragedy to happen to take swipe at the Opposition. If the mishap did not occur, the illegal” and unsafe” ferry would have still been carrying hundreds of passengers each day across the lagoon under the very nose of the RDA officials.
This is not the first incident of the sort. A single prior incident should have been an eye opener to the politicians and the relevant officials to see similar dangers around the country. Also there are hundreds, if not thousands of such dangerous services” across small rivers and streams around the country which are called Sangili Palama,” Wel Palama” or Edanda” where thousands of people including children risk their lives, without drawing the attention of politicians who are waxing eloquent on development. They will only find scapegoats when a tragedy occurs.
One does need to travel to all 14,000 Grama Niladhari divisions to find out how people in rural areas cross rivers and streams or what the schools in those villages lack. It must be recalled that President R.Premadasa ordered to construct 752 bamboo gates at every unprotected railway crossings in the country following a train-bus collision at Ahungalla on January 17, 1989. It might not be a proper solution and President Premadasa might not have looked at every problem in that way, but it stresses the need to look at the bigger picture through a single incident. 
Take the fertilizer fiasco. When the government faced with the dollar crisis, it all of a sudden in May banned the importation of chemical fertilizer, claiming that agro-chemicals are hazardous to the health. When the farmers started to agitate demanding fertilizer, authorities blamed the Opposition for inciting the farmers. When they realisd the folly of banning fertilizer following many farmers deciding to refrain from farming and the destruction of vegetable for want of agro-chemicals, they decided to allow the private sector to import chemical fertilizer. The end result was farmers losing the fertilizer subsidy, apart from the destruction of crops across the country.
The leaders of the country, if they are true to the masses who voted them to power must realize that the officials and the politicians around them always attempt to save their skin and in most cases take advantage of any disaster. Hence, the leaders must develop a strategies and mechanisms to look at the problems from the standpoint of the people and find solutions with the help of experts. In short, feel the issues like people and solve them with experts.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Health says that another 206 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 pushing the daily count on fresh cases detected to 747.

The new cases include two returnees from overseas while the rest are associated with the New Year Covid-19 cluster. 

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases registered in Sri Lanka thus far to 563,267.

Presently approximately 8,899 infected patients are undergoing treatment across the island. 

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 23 coronavirus related deaths for November 28, increasing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 14,328.

The deaths confirmed today include 16 male patients and 07 females. Four of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining nineteen are aged 60 years and above.  

Courtesy Adaderana

The General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Sagara Kariyawasam says that any allied party of the government which cannot work as an alliance and according to the President’s policy statement, should leave the ruling alliance.

Speaking at a media briefing held today (29), he said that criticizing the government when there is any issue with a policy decision is unacceptable. He said that what the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is doing at this moment is akin to ‘fishing in shallow water’.

The SLPP parliamentarian further charged that if the country’s transition to organic fertiliser had been successful, former President Maithripala Sirisena would have been the first to come out and say that he started it first.
 
However, when it goes wrong, they speak against it,” he said, adding that this is something that should not happen in alliance politics.

If a certain party thinks that they cannot conform to the principles of the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour policy statement, what it should do is leave.”

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

Political parties emanated with a variety of policies for transforming political administration from dominion or totalitarianism to a parliament rule as a symbol of democracy. A parliament rule comprises representatives of people who may be elected by the votes of the people. Democracy is a complicated word with different applications.  

Party politics in Sri Lanka have done many harmful activities to the country than innovating good policies for the benefit of the people. It is the reality of Sri Lanka, but in many countries, parliaments have braced the development and supported the role of political parties. It needs to rethink the role of political parties in Sri Lanka considering harms done to the community. To maintain democracy, does it need political parties? Democracy in Old Greece maintained without political parties and democratic way. If people think they want to see the country as an economically developed nation, are political parties an essential requirement?  It needs a broader evaluation on whether political parties have been contributed to the progress of the country or they contributed to destroying the opportunities.

The history of political parties goes back centuries and during the long history, many traditions and values have been added to political parties in many countries and political parties worked together in many instances when a country needed the unity of people. However, political parties in Sri Lanka have been working in a misguided policy framework and aimed to achieve a saying that the Queens’ opposition would be the alternate government. For example, in the last stage of LTTE war the unity was essential condition but political parties played politics at that stage. The idea of alternative government was a popular view of Sir Ivor Jennings. Since independence in 1948, it has been proved that party politics in the country has created many problems in the country and many development projects either halted or eliminated.  

The traditions and values of political parties are based on the philosophy of originators and when people are practically concerned with the policies of the party providing benefits to people, the usual practice was changing the policy structure of the party and it was done by a joint effort of members. The main question regarding Sri Lanka is that has been the political party system critical for a long time supporting for the achieving the dream of people? The answer is neither the objectives of originators of political parties have been achieved by the operating of political parties in the country.

If people want to convert the country to a developed nation, the view of the common people is to work unitedly without political differences in parties. Despite uniting people or working together political parties are a way of dividing people. Many people of Sri Lanka consider that political parties have not worked to convert the country to a developed nation because they have been worked like a virus that spread and suffers people in society. It is vicious than the covid 19.

It is observable in many democratic countries that the expected and visible changes have been incurred by the result of operating political parties, and the experience in Sri Lanka shows the party politics supported to generate benefits to so-called lower grade people until 1956, now it could evaluate that political parties have been creating and promoting politics that support to families instead of society.  Political parties are not ready to honestly talk about the truth and make a political field without parties. In fact, political parties are screens that are cover corruptions of powerful individuals of parties.

As the Sri Lankan ambassador to India recently stated the wealth production will be the way to achieve the developed status and it should not be a situation that creates controversy in the country. What is the meaning of wealth production? It is a process that everybody in the country should take part in the wealth production process and the participation of each person without differences is vital to achieving the purpose. It is a capitalist system that contradicts the politics of the party system in a democratic framework.

The political parties in the country have been promoting negative attitudes against wealth production and promoted attitudes among people resisting wealth production and cultivated a vicious psycho against the process of wealth production. Since the second decade of the 19th century, the beginning political parties adopted a system of protesting, and it shows that political parties have become disgusting without changes in society as they preached to people.

The other negative aspect of political parties is they try to claim ownership of various activities completed in the country. For example, the war victory against LTTE, the nationalization of private enterprises, and many activities are claimed political parties ignoring that funds for the changes invested from the government that are belong to public. In many countries, before implementing many activities, they were policies of political parties, and after the implementation, they become national activities, but in Sri Lanka, political parties claim every activity owned by them. The mentality of political party leaders is always wrong, and the hidden intention is to be highlighted all government work in a society in party leaders’ name rather than working to achieve policy objectives and many role players in political parties in Sri Lanka were crooks or mentally affected people or manipulators of issues.      

There are many limits to the development and growth of the country, and political parties don’t talk about the limits and work to attenuate issues. Although the limits are constraints to development, political parties attempt to convince the public that political parties could do everything that people expect, but no political party has developed workable policies to develop the country and the operational pattern of political parties showed that there were individuals who have a hidden agenda rather than working within limits. After independence, it showed that hidden agenda was corruption and making money giving publicity for government work.

Many political parties have no democracy in party management and the operational pattern shows that few persons in parties work to achieve hidden agendas that are massively related to personal wealth making by corrupt practices. For example, accelerated Mahaweli Project, the Greater Colombo Economic Zone were used to make money for politicians. In this situation, what is the use of political parties to cheat people or the country? During the reign of Kings and Queens, cheating people was not an aim of political leaders.

The visible atrocious nature of the history of political parties in Sri Lanka was the beginning of parties with a group of people who have common values and aims, but later, the political parties became enhancing family assets ignoring the party objectives. All Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim political parties later became enlarge family assets, UNP, SLFP, TC, FP, MC, and SLPJP became family assets, and the ownership of family ligature became a division of the country. The Pandora discovery indicates that how did Mr Paskaraslingam misused the office and party relationship to undue enrichment. In other countries, this situation is reflected, but the strong organizational structure of the political parties such as in the USA, UK, Japan, and Canada forced them to abandon the family ligature. Why the family gentry is abandoned, it is no other reason, than achieving undue enrichment for families that worked to begin political parties.

In this situation, Sri Lanka needs to unite against party-based politics and develop common policies that are acceptable to people without racial, religious, and caste dictions. Before the 1970 election, left political parties with SLFP developed a common program of policies, however, it was not a success because UNP was out of the common program.

All organizations that are not related to political parties need to press political parties to dissolve parties and to develop a common program. It shouldn’t be hidden political parties such as JVP and other political parties.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Tamil Separatist Movement said that the north and east of Sri Lanka was the homeland of the Ceylon Tamil. The historical reasons for this were examined and dismissed by KM de Silva and GH Pieris in two writings dated 1995 and 1991 respectively.  

These two writings completely demolished the homeland argument and there was no challenge to their writings. Among other arguments they debunked the fictional construction of a Tamil homeland based on the now infamous Cleghorn minute.

The    two writings are

• K.M. de Silva (2013) ‘Traditional Homelands’ of the Tamils: Separatist Ideology in Sri Lanka: A Historical Appraisal 1st pub 1995. 3rd Rev. Ed. International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Kandy. 
• G.H. Peiris, ‘An Appraisal of the Concept of a Traditional Homeland in Sri Lanka’ (1991) Ethnic Studies Report IX (1).

Welikala observed that the absence of precisely demarcated boundaries to the homeland has created difficulties for the Tamil territorial claim as a legal and constitutional proposition. This is evidenced in the shifting nature of the territorial claim. The Federal Party’s founding manifesto in 1949 merely stated, The Eelam Tamils are a nation of their own, they have a homeland of their own.”

Resolution No. 1 at its First National Convention in 1951 asserted Tamils’ territorial habitation of definite areas which constitute over one-third of this Island,” but nevertheless called for a plebiscite to determine the boundaries of the linguistic states” of the future federation.

 It was more specific in the Memorandum and Model Constitution submitted to the Constituent Assembly in 1971, which set out a federal scheme for the future republican constitution. This proposed that, The Northern Province and the Trincomalee and Batticaloa Districts of the Eastern Province will form one Unit. This will be a Tamil majority State. The Ampara District [in the southwest end of the Eastern Province] will form a Muslim majority State.”

 In the Vaddukoddai Resolution of 1976, which registered Tamil nationalism’s paradigm shift from federalism to secessionism, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) identified the Northern and Eastern Provinces as the territory of the future state of Tamil Eelam. Since then, Tamil nationalists have generally put forward the Northern and Eastern provinces as their homeland.

Amused critics want to know is there any other ethnic group which has two homelands, one in India and another in Sri Lanka. In a TV interview S.L. Gunasekera stated that if the Tamils had being the original settlers of Sri Lanka then they would not be holed up in Jaffna which is the most arid part of Sri Lanka. They would have been in salubrious areas. Secondly if they were the original settlers why are they a numerical minority now? 

Jaffna was initially, Sinhala speaking. Jaffna was populated by Sinhalese in the ancient and medieval period. The evidence is still there in cattle branding and in place names.  Historian P.A.T. Gunasinghe says that the place names of Jaffna only make sense if they are seen as translations of Sinhala names. He points out that ‘vil” means ‘bow,’ and ‘pay’ means ‘net’ in Tamil. Therefore names like Kokuvil and Manipay only make sense when they are seen as the Tamilisation of the Sinhala words Kokavila and Mampe. Valikamam and Vimankam are meaningless in Tamil, but make sense if the villages originally bore the Sinhala names of Valigama and Vimangama. Some place names like Polvattai refer to the Sinhala used in 14th century.  (continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Language became an important element in the formation of new states in Europe in the 19^th century. The emphasis was to be on the mother tongue, the language spoken in the home. The first International Statistical Congress of 1853 raised the question of including language in the    Census and the 1873 Congress recommended that language be included. Analysts observed that asking such a question would itself generate linguistic nationalism. It forced people not to select just a nationality, but a nationality connected to language.

Hobsbaum pointed out that in Europe national language was almost always an artificial construct. Most of the time people spoke dialects, not standardized language. French was the language of administration from about 1853 but even in 1789 it was spoken mainly in the central regions. It was not spoken at all in the north and south of France. Only 18% spoken high French. The same applied to German and Italian. In Germany there was High German which included local dialects such as Schwabisch. When Italy was formed only 3% spoke sophisticated Italian. Israel rejected Yiddish and created a new variant of Hebrew as the national language  of Israel.

Language was thereafter used as a unifying and emotional symbol of these new nation states of Europe. The Tamil Separatist Movement latched on to this.   The Tamil Separatist Movement announced The Tamil-speaking people in Ceylon constitute a distinct nation with its own language.  

The Jaffna Peninsula was a part of the Rajarata during the Anuradhapura kingdom. It was known as Nagadipa. The language was Sinhala. The Tamil language was introduced to Jaffna much later, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Landless, low caste laborers, from Tamilnadu, were brought into Jaffna Peninsula by the Dutch and British in the 18 and 19 century to work on the tobacco plantations in Jaffna. The Tamil settlements in Jaffna started then.  It is unlikely that they were Tamil scholars.

The Tamil language was entrenched in Jaffna by the American Missionaries who descended on Jaffna in 1816. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, based in Boston, started Christian missionary operations in Jaffna in 1816.   They encouraged Tamil studies with special emphasis on Tamil literature. They wanted also to upgrade the Tamil language used by the inhabitants of Jaffna.

The American Mission in Boston therefore wanted all subjects taught in Tamil in the mission schools of Jaffna.  Batticotta seminary, Vaddukoddai, the flagship school of the American Mission, placed much emphasis on Tamil language and literature. Tamil composition was encouraged   and there were exams on Tamil studies. Batticotta set up a Tamil class in 1828 to train Tamil teachers.  The Batticotta seminary, it is held, was responsible for the emergence of a Tamil intellectual elite and a Dravidian identity   in Jaffna.

The teachers were American. Christian missionaries trained in biblical Hebrew arrived and began learning Tamil, observed Shulman.  There was G.Dashiel for Sanskrit and P.K.Haselltine for Tamil.   H.R.Hoisington, a graduate of Cambridge University, who arrived in 1836, and became principal in 1845, mastered Tamil and Sanskrit, [presumably after he arrived in Jaffna]  A system of Tamil shorthand for the Tamil language was invented by Rev Fr P Dunne, principal of St Patrick’s College(1889-1901)   in 1900, he published a concise Tamil – English Dictionary.

Ancient Tamil texts were printed for the first time in the Mission press in 1835.    The Mission started a newspaper ‘Morning Star’ in 1841. It had four pages, two each in English and Tamil. In 1853 there was the ‘Vithyatharpanam’ with two equal sections in Tamil and English. 

Arumuka Navalar (1822-1879) was known for reforming Hinduism, not Tamil language   but he contributed to the revival of Tamil by making Tamil the language of the Saivite revival. He promoted literacy and Tamil studies. This was an important contribution to the development of modern Tamil studies both in Ceylon and South India, said K.M. de Silva. He was one of the early adaptors of modern Tamil prose, introducing Western editing techniques. He adopted a simple and lucid style of Tamil prose writing, added de Silva.

According to information held on the internet, Arumuga Navalar produced approximately ninety-seven Tamil publications of which twenty three were original writings. There were also forty   edited versions of works on grammar, literature, liturgy, and theology that were not previously available in print, as well as eleven commentaries. Commentaries on grammars included Kandihai Urai on the Nanool.  With this ‘recovery, editing, and publishing’ of ancient works, Navalar laid the foundations for the recovery of lost Tamil classics.. However, Jane Russell stated that Tamils were not conversant with classical Tamil even at 1946.

The Tamil language, in the meanwhile was in difficulties in its home state of Tamilnadu. By the end of the 14th century, Tamil had lost its dominant position in Tamilnadu. Tamil never regained that sovereign position.

Around 1364, the Tamil kingdom in South India was conquered by the Vijayanagara kingdom of Karnataka.  Tamil kingdom was thereafter administered by Vijayanagara officials from present day Andhra Pradesh.  Tamil was displaced by Telegu, the language of Andhra Pradesh. The kingdom was thereafter administered in Telegu. The Nayakkar kings of the Udarata kingdom who came from Tamilnadu spoke Telegu, not Tamil and were known as Andhras.

The Tamil kingdom later splintered into small, weak kingdoms, known as the kingdoms of Madura, Trichinopoly, and Tanjore, with Madura going under the Muslim Nawab of Arcot in 1734.  Telegu continued to dominate. There was a Telegu literature in Madras in the 19th century  and the British   rulers recognized Telegu. Telegu manuscripts numbering 3335 collected during British rule were sent to Hyderabad in 1960.

The Tamil language was rescued and re-instated in Tamilnadu by the Christian missionaries who arrived in Tamilnadu from the 17th century onwards .They had to learn Tamil to convert the natives to Christianity and in the process they helped to revive Tamil language and literature.

The leading personalities in this were two Italian Jesuit priests, Roberto de Nobili (1606-1656) and Constanzo Beschi (1680-1742) also German Lutheran priest B. Ziegenbalg (1682-1719). They collected Tamil manuscripts,   made translations and compiled grammars. G.U.Pope (1830- 1857) a Wesleyan priest, translated many Tamil texts into English and British Civil Servant F.W.Ellis (1810-1819) made a large collection of Tamil manuscripts. Rev. Robert Caldwell introduced the notion of a separate group of Dravidian languages in his  ‘A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, ‘(1856).

Madras also had it native researchers, notably Caminat Aiyar, who spent a good part of his life scouring the Tamil country for more manuscripts and editing them. Caminat Aiyar brought to light ancient, largely forgotten master works of Tamil literature.

The British administration in Madras helped in the recovery of Tamil. From 1820 onwards they supported the campaign to foster and reform Tamil language and literature. Publications of lost classics was a valued colonial period activity, observed Shulman. Language teachers were given secure jobs. The first section of Tolkapiyam was published in 1847 in Madras. But most of the manuscripts found could not be dated.  Some would have been recent, said Shulman. 

Rev. P.Percival (Wesleyan then Anglican) was appointed first Professor of Vernacular Literature at Madras University in 1857. He knew both Tamil and Telegu. The first section of Cilapattikaranam was printed by Bower and Muttiaya Pillay in 1868 and was part of the curriculum for students of Tamil in government colleges.

The American mission in Jaffna   went to Tamilnadu to help revive the Tamil language there. Tamils scholars trained at Batticotta were sent to help upgrade Tamil literature in Madras. The very early texts had gone out of circulation by the middle of the 19 century and were in need of ‘recovery. Manuscripts of Manimekalai, Cilapattikaranam for instance were missing. A bundle of palm leaf manuscripts were discovered in the library of the Tiruvavatutirai mutt in 1883.

The Jaffna Tamil who was most active in this was C.M. Thamotharampillai (1833-1901) Thamotharampillai learnt Tamil under his father, a first generation Christian, who had briefly attended Batticotta. Thamotharampillai also studied at Batticotta where he did a Tamil translation of the Book of Genesis from the Bible. He graduated from Batticotta in 1852.

Thamotharampillai advertised in Madras for Tamil manuscripts, obtained them, edited and published them, using his earnings to do so.  He collated manuscripts, noting variant readings. He published around 13 Tamil manuscripts including ‘Veerasoliyan’. He published several works which were considered lost, where only parts of the manuscripts   were found in olas here and there.  These included ‘Ilakkana vilakkam’   and, more importantly, the third part of Tholkayam, the ‘Porulathikaram.’ Thamotharampillai ‘searched high and low’ and brought this manuscript to light in 1885.

He handed over manuscripts that he was not using to others to process. Thamotharampillai’s contribution to the Tamil language in discovering and publishing lost manuscripts is well recognized in Tamilnadu.

In Sri Lanka, on the other hand,   Sinhala maintained its status as a sovereign language up to 1815. Sinhala continued in use thereafter, throughout British rule.  Sinhala literature and Sinhala grammar were carefully preserved and looked after by generation after generation of bhikkus and laymen during this period. Complete manuscripts of major Sinhala writings, such as Mahavamsa, Jataka pota, Vittipot, and   Kadaimpot were available in plenty, in good condition, in personal and temple collections in the 1930s. Unlike Tamil,  Sinhala language, Sinhala grammar, Sinhala literature did not collapse.No outside intervention was needed. The Christian missionaries only had to prepare Sinhala-English dictionaries for their own use.

Rasmus Rask (1787-1832) was a Danish specialist on languages. In 1816, Rask left Denmark to learn about languages in the East and to obtain manuscripts for the Royal Library, Copenhagen. He went to Sweden, Finland, Russia, Persia,   India and then Ceylon. Godakumbura says that Rask learnt Sinhala in the three months he stayed in Madras. From Madras Rask arrived in Jaffna in November 1821 and learned Sinhala from C.E.Layard, the CCS officer stationed there, using the Sinhala version of the New Testament of the Bible. He came down to Colombo and collected   Sinhala manuscripts to take back to Denmark. There is no mention of Tamil.

The fact that Rask did not study Tamil, though he was in Madras and Jaffna, indicates that Tamil did not have a high position at the time. The South Asian collection of the Royal Library, Copenhagen, today has 1127 manuscripts in Sanskrit, 310 in Pali, 169 in Sinhalese, 97 in Tamil, and 13 in Urdu.  It has 2640 printed books in Sanskrit, 860 in Hindi, 690 in Urdu and 180 in Sinhalese. There is no mention of Tamil.

The Tamil Separatist Movement declared that the Tamil language had an unsurprised classical heritage. The Ceylon Tamil of the British period held that there was a wonderful Tamil literature. Tamil is seen as the classical language which produced the oldest literature of the Dravidian languages, they said.

Ceylon Tamils announced that Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. It was described it as “the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past.” The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as “one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world”.

In Sri Lanka, Simon Casie Chetty produced ‘The Tamil Plutarch’ (1859) A Summary Account of the Lives of the Poets and Poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon. In this book Casie Chetty said that Tamil is peculiar to part of India, which was formerly under Chera, Chola and Pandiya kings and of those of the eastern and northern provinces of Ceylon.

 Tamil occupies the most distinguished rank. It is one of the most copious, refined, and polished languages spoken by man. Few nations on earth can perhaps boast of so many poets as the Tamils. Poetry appears to have been the first fixed form of language amongst them; they have not a single ancient book that is written in prose, not even the books on medicine. There were three different Sangams, or Colleges at three different periods, for the promotion of literature, concluded Casie Chetty.

But the reality is different. Actually, we don’t even know the original name for the two greatest Tamil literary works – Tolkappiyam (just means “an ancient classic”) and Thirukural (“divine verses”), said analysts. Like most of Indian history, we just know these things from secondary works written by others, but a lot of things are unknown. The Sangam texts were lost or became irrelevant in the mediaeval times and came to be rediscovered in the 19th century.

Today, Hindi and English are the two official languages of India .In Tamilnadu, the home of the Tamil language, Tamil   ranks third, below Hindi and English. The rank order of the most spoken languages in India is Hindi, Bengali, Telegu, Marathi and Tamil.

Tamil is recognized as an official language only in Sri Lanka and Singapore.  Tamil is   recognized as a minority language in South Africa, Malaysia and Mauritius. Tamil is used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. (Continued)

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය, ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය ආමාත්‍යාංශය.

ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාව සංවිධානය කළ 42වැනි ජාතික යෞවන සම්මාන ප්‍රදාන උළෙල අති උත්කර්ෂවත් අයුරින් කොළඹ නෙළුම් පොකුණ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ රඟහලේ දී ඊයේ (26) දින තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වෙයන් පැවැත්විණි.

යෞවන සම්මාන උළෙල තවත් වර්ණවත් කළ කැපී පෙනෙන සිදුවීම වූයේ ප්‍රධාන ආරාධිතයා ලෙස උළෙලට එක්වූ අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා, සියලුම සම්මානලාභීන්ට සම්මාන ප්‍රදානය ඒ ඒ ක්ෂේත්‍රයන්හි ප්‍රවීනයන් ලවා ලබා ගැනීමට සළස්වා එදෙස බලා සිටීමයි.

කොවිඩ් වසංගත තත්ත්වය හේතුවෙන් පසුගිය වසරේ පැවැත්වීමට නොහැකි වූ 42වැනි ජාතික යෞවන සම්මාන උළෙල මෙවර පැවැත්වූයේ අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ සෘජු අධීක්ෂණය යටතේ ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාවේ ජව සම්පන්න තාරුණ්‍යයේ සංවිධාන ශක්තියෙනි.

නැගී එන ජව සම්පන්න තාරුණ්‍යයේ කලා හැකියාවන් ඇගයීමට ලක්කිරීම සඳහා පැවැති 42වැනි ජාතික යෞවන සම්මාන උළෙලේ දී සිංහල හා දමිළ කෙටි නාට්‍ය, දිගු නාට්‍ය, ගද්‍ය හා පද්‍ය රචනා ගායන, වාදන නර්තන යනාදී තරග අංශ 45ක් යටතේ තරුණ නිර්මාණකරුවන් 130කට අධික සංඛ්‍යාවක් වෙනුවෙන් සම්මාන ප්‍රදානය කෙරිණි.

විශේෂ අවශ්‍යතා සහිත තරුණ තරුණියන් වෙනුවෙන් ද නිවේදන, කථික,යොවුන් ගායනා, ජන ගායනා, චිත්‍ර හා නව නිර්මාණ නැටුම් යනාදී තරග අංශ සඳහා යෞවන සම්මානවලට අමතරව සහතික හා වටිනා මුදල් ත්‍යාග පිරිනැමීම මෙවර උළෙල තවත් අර්ථවත් කළේය.

මෙම සම්මාන උළෙලට සමගාමීව 09 වන යෞවන චිත්‍රපට උළෙලේ කෙටි හා වාර්තා චිත්‍රපට තරගාවලියේ ජයග්‍රාහකයන්ට තිළිණ හා මුදල් ත්‍යාග පිරිනැමීම ද සිදුවිය.

90 දශකයේ අග භාගයේදී ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාව හා ජාතික රූපවාහිනිය එක්ව ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය ප්‍රේක්ෂකයන්ට නවමු අත්දැකීමක් එක්කරමින් එළි දක්වන ලද ‘’තුරුණු ශක්ති සෞන්දර්යය චාරිකාව’’ නැමැති ප්‍රථම රියැලිටි වැඩසටහන තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ උපදෙස් හා මඟපෙන්වීම මත නව පරපුරට ගැළපෙන පරිදි ‘‘තුරුණු ශක්ති Next Gen’’ නමින් නව්‍යතාවයන් සමඟ ආරම්භ කිරීමද මෙයට සමඟාමීව සිදුවිය.

දිවයින පුරා විසිර සිටින නිවේදන හැකියාවෙන් පිරිපුන් වයස අවු. 15-29 අතර තරුණ තරුණියන්ගේ නිවේදන හා ගායන කුසලතා ජාතියට හඳුන්වාදීමේ අරමුණින් මෙම වැඩසටහන සංවිධානය වේ.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය සරත් වීරසේකර, ජාතික උරුමයන්, ප්‍රාංගික කලා ග්‍රාමීය ප්‍රවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක, නාගරික සංවර්ධන අපද්‍රව්‍ය බැහැරලීම් හා ප්‍රජා පවිත්‍රතා රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය නාලක ගොඩහේවා, ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් දමිත වික්‍රමසිංහ, තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ  ලේකම් අනුරාධ විජේකෝන් යන මහත්වරු ඇතුළු ප්‍රවීන හා ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ කලාකරුවෝ රැසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය, ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය ආමාත්‍යාංශය.

by Dr Parakrama Waidyanatha Courtesy The Island

When the potato crop, the staple diet then in Ireland, began to totally fail with a fungal infestation that lead to the historic Irish famine (1845-1852), the Irish leaders in Dublin turned to Queen Victoria and the British Parliament for redress. However, the British government under which Ireland was then a colony, acted negatively repealing certain laws and tariffs that made food such as corn and bread prohibitively expensive. Tenant farmers were unable even to produce enough food for themselves, and hundreds of thousands died of starvation and diseases caused by malnutrition!

The exact role of the British government in the Potato Famine and its aftermath—whether it ignored the plight of Ireland’s poor out of malice, or if their collective inaction and inadequate response could be attributed to incompetence—is still being debated. However, even during the famine some food items were exported out of Ireland. Our situation looks very comparable to the Irish fiasco except that our leaders are not acting with malice but with foolish obstinacy, not analysing the issues at stake, not consulting experts in the subject and sticking coherently to their policy of organic farming with unattainable goals.

Our rice farmers may yet not be starving because they have at least the last Yala rice crop which has been reasonable despite the fertilizer and other agrochemical shortages. On the other hand, tea and vegetable farmers appear to be the most hit. Many tea smallholders complain that without adequate nitrogen fertilizer their crops have declined immensely and some are not even harvesting the meagre flush as it can hardly meet even the workers wages. The seriousness of the situation is further aggravated by our losing the markets which the industry claims can be substantial.

At the same time, for the general public, sky-rocketing prices of food and other essentials are unbearable. Our women won’t be able even to emulate what the French women did during the days of the French Revolution due to inflation, carrying the money in the shopping bags and bringinging back the purchases in their purses, because they have no money to carry.

It is regrettable that the President did not consult the agricultural experts in deciding to rush to convert the country entirely to organic from conventional farming within one season.He has not positively responded to the current fiasco of neither chemical nor organic fertilizer being available. His main consultants on matter appear to be a pediatrician who wants to go back to traditional rice varieties which yield less than half the new improved varieties and a professor of agriculture who identified sorghum as a rice variety, Swayanjatha wee’, with which, he claims, King Dutugamunu fed his ‘Dasa Maha Yodayas.’ There are many other ‘yes men’ behind him nodding their heads to every thing he says.

The President should be mindful that the world moved away from organic farming from about the 1850s to conventional farming because even in that era organic farming could not meet the food demand. The writer hopes that he would at least look at Table 1 here which shows how chemical fertilizers and new high yielding varieties pushed production from essentially organic farming and traditional rice to chemical farming and new varieties by three to four fold across many countries. Distinguished Professor Vaclav Smil, University of Manitoba calculated that 40% of the global population in 1999 would not have lived if urea fertilizer had not been invented.

Table 1. Comparative Rice

Production (Million MT)

Country 1960 1999

China 48 170

India 46 112

Sri Lanka 1.1 3.4

The transition from traditional agriculture where fertilizer comprised essentially farmyard manure(FYM) and green manures, to conventional agriculture(CF), as we know it today, took place in the mid 19th century with two ground breaking inventions , the synthesis of soluble (super) phosphate(John Lawes,1814 to 1900) and the need for chemical nitrogenous fertilizer for crop growth (Justus von Liebig,1803-1873) by two great scientists. In 1909, another great German scientist, Fritz Haber (1868-1934) successfully synthesized ammonia by combining atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen which revolutionized the production of urea and other commercial nitrogenous fertilizers.

These inventions and the rapidly growing knowledge then in plant chemistry led to the substitution of natural dung with chemical fertilizer. The third important element, potassium, was provided largely by potash, a substance that had been known from antiquity. It has been said that without these inventions, the industrial countries of Western Europe could not have supported the dense population growth of the 19th century. It is the same reason that later led to the Green Revolution. This is ironically the fundamental question that we should ask: is there adequate organic matter and associated technologies to go green” fully, as the President calls it, now, if it was not possible then with much lower populations but more farmlands. Sir John Russell (1942), the reputed British soil scientist, in an article titled British Agriculture states that: it is difficult for us in this distance in time to recapture the feelings with which the farmers received the information that a powder made in a factory and applied out of a bag at the rate of only a few hundred weights per acre could possibly act as well as farmyard manure put on the land as dressings of tons to meet the nutrient demands of crops’. The question then is if organic matter was inadequate to meet the fertilizer requirements then, can it do so now on a global scale?

The main blame of the President and his cabinet colleagues is on health hazzards of agrochemicals. There is no argument that there are risks largely due to misuse of agrochemicals. One serious problem recently has been phosphate pollution of the Rajarata water bodies due to excessive application of phosphate fertilizers in the upcountry vegetable farms. On the other hand, no comprehensive studies reveal pollution of water or soil with heavy metals or pesticides, a subject much spoken about. Farmer training on judicious use can greatly reduce the risk of agrochemical misuse which sadly is not happening with the very ineffective extension services of the day. Strengthening this service is matter of highest priority.

On the other hand hardly any politician utters a word about ambient air pollution, which is a far more serious problem than agrochemical pollution. Records reveal that it caused 3.5 million premature, non-communicable disease- deaths, globally in 2017. These were from stroke, ischemic heart disease non chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, respiratory infections, and diabetes. Local health records reveal that our situation is no better.

The President and many of his cabinet colleagues including the Minister of Agriculture continue to lay the blame on agrochemicals for the kidney disease in the Rajarata and other non- communicable diseases, apparently the main reason for the President ‘going green.’ At some public meeting the President was heard to say that if he gives ‘chemical fertilizer with one hand he will have to give a kidney’ to the farmer with the other. He was prompted to say so by one of his key advisors in agriculture, a pediatrician turned agriculture expert. Sadly he has not sought advice from the health authorities as to the causation of the kidney disease. Numerous knowledgeable scientists and publications have revealed beyond doubt that hardwater and fluoride are the cause of the disease, and a recent comprehensive report by the Health Ministry reveals that there is no evidence to implicate agrochemicals in the causation of the disease.

In this crisis situation, of diminishing food production, the President does not appear to have sought the advise of real agriculture experts. In fact a letter delivered to him over a month ago with some 140 signatures of qualified agriculture researchers and academics seeking an opportunity to discuss the current agricultural calamity has fallen on deaf ears. Let alone the local expert knowledge, he should have sought evidence from what happens elsewhere in the world. Many countries are only gradually expanding their organic crop cover which, however, yet stands at 1.5 % of the total global croplands expanding annually at a meagre 2% per annum.Only 16 countries have exceeded 10 % of the crop cover in organic farming, and in nearly all them the major extents are in pasture fertilized with farmyard manure.

Policy blunders continue to be committed. To meet the rice fertilizer needs the government claims importing 2.1 million litres of nano fertilizer at a cost of USD 12 per litre. It appears to be nano urea although the Minister of Agriculture vehemently claims that it is not nano urea but ‘nanonitrogen’ to give it an organic stance. Urea is not allowed in organic farming. The authorities claim that the cost of a litre is USD 12, and it has 4% nitrogen, meaning there are 40 grams nitrogen/litre. As average rice crop of 5 tons/ha removes over 100kg nitrogen , meaning to meet the crop demand the farmers should spray 2,500 bottles of which the theoretical cost should be USD 30,000. However, the government makes the ridiculous claim that five litres/ha of nanonitrogen is adequate to meet the crop demand. God save the farmers!

The global synthetic urea prices have soared to about USD 750 per metric ton from about USD500 last November. Assuming that a farmer applies 100kg nitrogen/ha with urea (46% N) his cost should be Rs 32,608 without subsidy; and assuming he sells his crop of five tons at Rs 60/kg, his gross income should be Rs 300,000, and the cost of urea alone should be over 10.6% of the gross income. On the other hand, with the huge fertilizer subsidy in previous years the total fertilizer cost for rice farming was a mere 2 to 3% of the total cost of production or about 1.5% of the gross return. Incisive thinking on fertilizer subsidy is another matter that needs state attention.

The need for a national advisory body like the one in India set up by Nehru in 1963, which still continues with a name change made by Prime Minister Modi to give it more emphasis on technologies. Modi also recently reported repealing antiquated regulations that are adversely affecting small farmers. Moreover, whereas we have rushed to ban palm oil imports (now reversed) and oil palm cultivation, promoting coconut cultivation to meet the national oil yields despite it yielding only 20% of oil as oil palm, Modi has engaged in a policy of expanding oil palm cultivation extending it to irrigated lands and replacing some of the low-yielding arable oil crops. His target is to expand the oil palm cover from the current level of about 400,000 ha to a million by 2025. This writer repeats that our leaders should look at what happens elsewhere in the world apart from listening to proven experts in the respective fields.

by Anura Gunasekera Courtesy The Island

A few days ago President Gotabaya Rajapaksa(GR), the first military man and, unarguably, the most ignorant in the ways of governance to occupy the presidential seat, celebrated the completion of two years as the eighth president of the Republic of Sri Lanka. The salutation coincided with the formal vesting with the Sangha, of the Sandahiru Seya” in Anuradhapura, a project commenced during brother Mahinda’s last term as president. A towering stupa rising above the Jetawana and the Abhayagiri, ostensibly to honour the services rendered by the armed forces and the police in our ethnic conflict but, in reality, a monument to the Rajapaksa delusions of grandeur, aligns the Rajapaksa Family dynasty with the Sinhala Kings. A tribute to the heroic is justified but the supreme incongruity of conflating the quintessential Buddhist symbol, with success in a bloody military campaign, is inconsequential to a hegemonic mindset. The incompatibility was also ignored by the Rajapaksa-adoring Sangha, including the Anunayake Theros of both Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters, who participated and enthusiastically endorsed its purpose.

Notwithstanding a grandiose commemoration, as Rajapaksa’s second year in the presidency ends and the year 2021 draws to a close, the country stands mired in calamities on every public front.

The Crisis

The economy is in disaster mode. Foreign reserves which were at USD 7.5 Billion in November 2019, when GR took office, had declined to USD 2.8 Billion by August 2021. Despite Central Bank Governor Cabraal’s blithe assurance that the economy can be restructured without IMF assistance, and that wildly reckless money-printing has no impact on inflation, banks are unable to provide importers with forex to import essentials, whilst prices of basic commodities are placing them beyond the reach of ordinary consumers. According to most economists, in the real world, when money printing increases in a background of stagnant or declining national output, all other factors being equal, hyper-inflation is the certain outcome. Recent historical examples are too numerous to quote here. However, Cabraal, who is one of the architects and, also, a highly privileged inhabitant of the Rajapaksa Dystopia, is obviously reading from a different text!

For the last few months, in every village, town and city across the island, for the first time since the Sirimavo Bandaranaike regime 50 years ago, desperate citizens have been waiting in queues to buy the most basic items. There are frequent shortages of sugar, rice, milk powder and cooking fuel; very recently, suppliers ran short of kerosene oil, the only convenient and affordable alternative to cooking gas. Gathering firewood is not an option, especially for the four million urban population of Sri Lanka.

The government has responded to the foreign exchange shortage by imposing drastic regulations to limit dollar usage, declaring over 600 imported items, including mobile phones, clothing, household appliances and a range of foods, as non-essential. Vehicles imports are also included in the restrictions.

Prices of essential foods, vegetables and staples have seen an astronomic escalation during 2021, due to low supply, either because of import restrictions or, in the case of locally grown items, a result of poor harvests due to denial- through unavailability- of basic nutrient inputs, and disruptions in the supply chain from distant growing areas.

The Cause

The pandemic has contributed to the crisis, dismantling livelihoods with some of the monthly paid subjected to wage cuts or layoffs, whilst daily paid workers are denied earnings through inability to access places of work or, because the lockdown has compelled the closure of many small establishments, which rely mainly on casual labour. As in many countries in the developing world, in Sri Lanka, the informal, small and medium scale entrepreneurial sector collectively supports more livelihoods, than either the State or the corporate sector. However, the Covid pandemic is only a contributory factor to an escalating socio-economic disaster. The government, through the implementation of a series of imprudent and ill-conceived policies, has aggravated the situation to a degree beyond retrieval.

Immediately after assuming the presidency, GR ordered sweeping tax concessions, which resulted in the diminution of government revenues by about 30% in 2020. These concessions were beneficial to a minute proportion of the population, which actually needed no such relief. They did not cascade to the ordinary citizen. Soon thereafter, to bridge the cash supply deficit the money printing spree commenced, according to some sources injecting as much as an additional 35% – 40% in to the economy, by mid-2021.

The pandemic Task Force was led by a retired army commander, appointed by a president unable to distinguish between the scientific complexities of fighting a virus, and the tactical requirements of assaulting an enemy garrison. This mindset was also compounded by an inherent insensitivity to the suffering of ordinary people. The mismanagement of the project in its early, critical stages led to an escalation of infections and deaths, especially amongst the elderly who were denied vaccinations at the outset. Successive waves of infection even led to embarrassing State sponsorship of miracle cures- the ridiculous Dhammika Elixir” and the casting of holy water pots in to flowing water!!

Whilst people were desperately scrabbling around to sustain themselves in a setting of loss of income, essential item scarcities and other privations, overnight, the president decreed a ban on the use of inorganic fertilizer and agro-chemicals. All professional agriculturists in the country (the writer was one for over 50 years) and scientists in related disciplines, have pointed out the certainty of the disastrous outcomes from the implementation of this irrational, unscientific and impractical policy; the adverse consequences are already visible in the case of short term crops, especially rice and vegetables, whilst the impact on the long-term plantation crops, particularly tea, will very soon be evident in the form of crop declines, diminished exports and shrinking foreign exchange earnings.

The Response

The island-wide uprising of despairing farmers, beating and burning effigies of senior ministers and demanding a reversal of the fertilizer ban, was met with the promise of organic fertilizer as an alternative. The imported organic nutrient, apparently a mixture of sea weed and faeces- a second virus from China after Corona- was found unsuitable, leading to imports from India of liquid nitrogen”, a product untried on a large scale in that country. One of the President’s responses to the anguish of the farmers was to declare at a public meeting that he could, if he considered it desirable, use the army to seize the farming community by the scruff of its collective neck and compel them to use organic fertilizer!!

The ban on the slaughter of cattle is a similarly ill-considered directive. Alleviating animal suffering is a noble cause but the consequences of the ban will be dire for several hundred thousand people. The cattle rearing industry is multi-faceted and interconnected. Milk production, beef supply and the supply of animal skin to the tanning industry go hand-in-hand. Dairy industry, which is essentially a small farmer collective enterprise, becomes unviable unless unproductive animals are converted to meat. This ban will disempower around 200,000 individual farmers island-wide, many of them Muslims in the Eastern province. The certain consequences will be the decline of local milk production, scarcity of allied dairy products and the unpreventable escalation of illicit cattle slaughter. That proverb of unknown origin, that ” The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions,” is an apt commentary on both the fertilizer and cattle slaughter ban.

Younger brother Basil, hailed by Rajapaksa acolytes as an economic genius of Einsteinian proportions- despite the absence of previous experience and known academic background – has produced a budget reinforced by bloated statistics and unrealizable dreams. His disgracefully incoherent Budget speech, delivered in Sinhala, justifiably lampooned in multiple forums, was not improved by his rambling, garbled contributions in a subsequent English language interview on the same subject, with Ms Indeewari Amuwatte on Ada Derana. The questions were intelligent, precise and designed to elicit clarity. The responses were vague, evasive and inarticulate, by a man struggling to defend the indefensible in a medium clearly unfamiliar to him; at best a cringe-worthy performance.

Consequences

A frustrated electorate propelled GR in to power in justifiable disgust at the dysfunctional governance of the Sirisena- Wickramesinghe regime, only to be confronted, in less than two years, with an ineptitude of colossal proportions. The enormous parliamentary advantage of a two-thirds majority and a presidency with unlimited power, the two moving in parallel rather than in unison, has paved the way for an economic and social disaster. It is an inevitable consequence of the 20th Amendment, which has expanded the powers of the President, whilst encroaching on the authority of the parliament and the judiciary. When the individual so elected believes that he is the sole repository of wisdom in governance – despite a total lack of experience in the field and a wretched absence of ordinary commonsense – chaos ensues. That is what we see everyday, in mass protests against moronic directives.

The only visible success in governance in Sri Lanka today is the inexorable onward march of the Rajapaksa project, which commenced during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s first term and, after a slight hiccup during the abortive Sirisena regime, has gathered a terrifying new momentum since end 2019. It is conservatively estimated that about 64% of the country’s economy is directly controlled by the Rajapaksa family and those connected to it. In a country rapidly sliding in to an abyss where lies the bleak certainty of food and other essential item scarcities – including pharmaceuticals – widespread malnutrition, loss of employment and livelihoods, declining foreign exchange earnings, disruption to education at all levels and the disintegration of the society, the only glow in a leaden sky comes from the Rajapaksa comet. The State will surely fail but the First Family will surely prosper.

Unless a disoriented and vacillatory opposition quickly gathers its wits, firstly jettisoning the toxic Ranil Wickremesinghe and then rallying round Premadasa – not necessarily the best of men but the only possible alternative – the Rajapaksa dynastic succession, from elder brother to younger brother and from uncle to nephew, and thereafter to another sibling or relative, is a certainty.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President by the convergence of normally divergent political forces. But, once elected, by-passing the legislature and other democratic institutions, he has chosen to govern through the armed forces and a collection of Task Forces”, staffed or led by ex-military men, and other disciples and profiteers, answerable to only him. A spineless, collusive and essentially corrupt legislature has become a rubber stamp to his will. A reading of the two year performance report establishes beyond doubt that the Viyathmaga” is the road to certain ruin, and that the Eliyamaga” will condemn this country to economic darkness before the Gotabaya presidency ends.

Very recently, parliamentarian Kumara Welgama delivered a speech at the Diyawanna assembly, amusing, but brutally frank, in its exposure of the venality of recent regimes and the familial considerations which overrode national interests in decision making at the highest levels of governance, whilst highlighting the aberrant mentality that pervades the current dispensation. It was also prophetic in the warnings sounded to the ruling regime. Not one of his statements were contested. It must now be clear to all that when madmen are allowed to run the asylum, lunacy becomes institutionalized and insanity infiltrates governance.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry reported that another 210 persons have tested positive for coronavirus, pushing the daily count of new cases to 742.

This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases confirmed in the country thus far to 562,520 while over 18,500 infected patients are currently undergoing treatment island-wide. 

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 27 coronavirus related deaths for November 27, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 529,662.

According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the deaths reported today include 14 males and 13 females.

Five of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 22 are in the age group of 60 years and above. 

H. L. D. Mahindapala

On May 14, 1976 the Vellala Tamil leadership – there was no other dominant political leadership in Jaffna – declared war on the democratically elected state of Sri Lanka. The Vellala Tamil leadership consisted of the descendants of the  Malabaris who invaded Jaffna in 1215. The invasion was led by an obscure terror called Magha of Kalinga,” ( p.37 – Learing Politics from Sivaram, Mark P. Whitaker). Whitaker, an American anthropologist,  adds that Magha was brutal. He consolidated his rule with relentless violence. Citing a Tamil chronicle, Whitaker states on the same page that Magha was a conqueror very fond of stomping about, laying waste to Buddhist shrines, smashing non-Saivite temples and plucking the eyes out of opposing  heretics.” As the first king of Jaffna he set the template for the culture of violence that ruled Jaffna from 1215. Sankili followed him by killing 600 Tamil Catholics for not owing allegiance to him. The ruling powers of Jaffna—from Magha to Prabhakaran  —  has consistently exerted excessive power, reaching inhuman levels, to survive in politics. The  culture of political violence made oppression or killing of Tamils the norm in Jaffna.

The political legacy left behind by Magha opened the pathways for his successors to go on the rampage, oppressing and killing Tamils, or ethnically cleansing Jaffna of Buddhists and Muslims. The Magha- Sankili-Vellala-Prabhakaran culture denied the basic human rights to the Jaffnaites. There are many Ph.Ds awaiting those who dare to explore the roots of Tamil violent culture. Research studies on Tamil violence will not come from the Jaffna University because  its academic culture is to hide the dark side of Jaffna history, particularly its violent casteist history. Those who dared to reveal the hidden truth had to flee Jaffna in search of safe havens. Prof. K. Indrapala, the first professor of histoy of the Jaffna University, had to run for his life because he said that the history of Jaffna began in 12^th century. Prof. Rajan Hoole had to go into hiding because he asked too many questions about Tamil violence, Ms. Rajini Tiranagama, an academic in the Medical Faculty of Jaffna, was shot dead as she was cycling home, because she was a Tamil dissident. The Tamil tendency, however, has been to deify Tamil violence. They elevated Prabhakaran, the unrepentant killer of Tamils, to the level of  Surya Devan” (Sun God). .

The history of Jaffna has been the history of the triumph of the violent and casteist Vellalas. They ruled Jaffna with an iron-fist. Others were forced to obey. The Sudra Vellalas, the lowest caste in India, flooded the peninsula in the post-1215 period. The waves of Sudra Vellala migrants that came after Magha stabilised Vellala supremacy. Some of these waves are recorded in detail in the Yalpana Vaipa Malai (historical garland), the mini-Mahavamsa of Jaffna. Because they came from Malabar they were known as the Malabaris during the Dutch and the British in the 19^th century. It was in the 20^th century that the Malabaris were designated as Tamils. The Tamil identity was resuscitated by Arumuka Navalar, the Hindu religious reformist, who revived the forgotten Tamil classics. In the absence of the Brahmins in the Hindu society of Jaffna it was Navalar, the religious guru of  the Vellalas,  who elevated the Vellalas to the highest peak  in the caste hierarchy. The Northern leadership that declared war consisted of the Vellala Tamil MPs elected democratically by the Tamils of Jaffna. The declaration of war which was adopted unanimously by the first National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) held in Vadukoddai was a crime against peace, according to international law. The Convention that passd the Resolution  was chaired by S. J. V. Chelvanaykam, leader of the Tamil separatist movement.  Before sitting down to steer the declaration of war he had gone through every word of the Resolution with a fine comb, according to his son-in-law, Prof. A. Jeyaratnam Wilson. (p. 128 – S.J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947 – 1977, A Political Biography, A. J. Wilson).  In other words, Chelvanayakam, the war-mongering Gandhi of Jaffna, piloted the declaration of war from the beginning to the end. Parenthetically, it is necessary to note that the Nazi leaders of World War II were tried and sentenced at the Nuremberg Trials, inter alia, on this charge of committing crimes against peace. After the Vadukoddai Resolution legitimized violence, it is logical for the inherent Magha-Sankili-Vellala culture to produce Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil leader who killed more Tamils than the others. When the university students of Jaffna celebrate Maaveerar Day” they are hero-worshipping the worst killer of Tamils next to Sankili. It is  the equivalent of neo-Nazis celebrating Hitler’s birthday.

Riding high on the anti-Sinhala-Buddhist hate politics – it had  reached boiling point in Jaffna by 1976 — the Vellala Tamil leaders declared war to achieve their elusive Eelam. Declaring war was the ultimate offensive that was left for the the Tamil extremist to pursue Eelam. But no democratically elected government would agree to divide Sri Lanka into two separate states. After committing themselves to pursue the Vadukaddai War (a.k.a. Eelam War) — there was no strategic goal higher than declaring war for the Tamil leaders to pursue Eelam — the Tamil leaders were trapped in a war they never expected to drag so long. Appapillai Amirthalingam, was  one of the Fathers of the Vadukoddai Resolution. He hailed the gun-toting children that came out of the Vadukoddai Resolution as our boys”. He and other lawyers who rallied behind the violent Vadukoddai Resolution rushed to defend the boys” in courts and told them not to be afraid of killing Tamil traitors”. After all, the Vadukoddai Resolution had legitimized violence and urged the boys” to take up the gun and never to flinch until they achieve Eelam. The Sansoni Commission report records how the Vellala leadership egged the boys” to pursue violence without fear. One day the boys” walked into Amirthalingam’s house and shot him dead at point blank range. The children of the Vadukoddai Resolution had no compunction in killing their fathers. The violence in the Vadukoddai Resolution was directed primarily at the Sinhalese who were demonised as the enemy”. But, as it often happens, history does not run on premeditated lines. Tamil violence took off on a logic of its own. The unintended consequence of the Vadukoddai Resolution was to release the bottled genie of Magha-Sankili-Vellala cult of violence.  Once Tamil violence was released it ran amok killing  indiscriminately. Tamil violence first turned against the Tamils. The bullets that were aimed at the Sinhalese ricocheted  and killed the Tamils. Tamils killed more Tamils than the Sinhalese in the Vadukoddai War

The Vadukoddai War ended on May 19, 2009 in the brackish waters of Nandikadal Lagoon in Jaffna. It lasted 33 years and five days, to be precise. It was a futile war. The consequences of the brutal violence unleashed by the Vadukoddai War impacted on all communities. The Tamils of the North suffered the most. V. Ananadsangaree, the leader of the TULF, said that the Tamils had the freedom to protest when Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister, opened the Jaffna University but could not even step into Jaffna which was under a Tamil Thalaivar” (Leader). S. C. Chandrahasan, son  of the father of the Vadukoddai declaration of war, Chelvanayakam, mourned that more Tamils were killed by the Tamil killing machines of Prabhakaran – the first-born child of the Vadukoddai Resolution — than any other force. The Vellala Tamil elite who fled to greener pastures abroad continued to finance the war that was killing more Tamils than the other communities. The Vellala Tamils invested all their collective resources, both from abroad and at home, into the war chest of Prabhakaran. The best of Tamil intellectuals invested their knowledge, skills and expertise to win the war. When they ran out of cadres to fight their war they even forcibly recruited under-aged children to save invincible” Prabhakaran, their Surya Devan”. In the end the Tamils lost the war.

In short, it was an unnecessary, senseless and immoral war that ended with the Vellala Tamils, who launched it, achieving nothing. Now that the gruesome and painful episode is over it is the moral duty of the Tamil leadership and the intellectuals who went along with the war-mongers of the Tamil killing machine, to consider what went wrong. Instead the intellectuals are deliberately turning a blind eye to the political forces and the ideological justifications that contributed to the prolongation of the war for 33 years. Wars are not fought with bullets alone. The finger that pulls the trigger to fire the bullet is motivated by ideology. In manufacturing theoretical and ideological justifications for the violence that flowed from the declaration of the Vadukoddai War the intellectuals were complicit in the war crimes and the crimes against humanity committed in the name of Tamil Eelam. Judge C. G. Weeramantry, Vice-President of the International Court of Justice, who in his celebrated  dissenting judgement declared that nuclear weapons were unlawful under any circumstances, also held the view that the scientists and the technicians should be held responsible for the intellectual input they contribute to make weapons of mass destruction. He went beyond the political decision-makers to pin moral responsibility on the scientific community that contributed their knowledge for construction of WMDs. The primary function of intellectuals is to produce knowledge. The knowledges” that intellectuals produce are not mere abstract theories that remain as dead letters between covers of a book. Their knowledges” have serious consequences and they should be held responsible for the impact of their ideologies on humanity. In Sri Lanka the intellectuals who gathered in seminars, produced books, manufactured theories and ideologies, lobbied and influenced decisions-makers and propagandized their knowledges” without telling the truth to centres of power should be held responsible for the part they played in prolonging the fascist terror unleased by the Northern leadership.

The Vadukoddai War spawned research centres specifically to manufacture knowledge” to produce peace. Centres like the National Council for Peace, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Centre for Policy Alternative and MARGA are some of the intellectual factories set up purportedly to produce knowledge for peace. They laboured for 33 years without producing a single theory/formula to end the war. They were a miserable failure. It was plainly because they were going along in devious ways with concocted histories of the past that fitted into Tamil separatist agenda of the present. They, imported theories to justify the violence that were running  berserk. They hatched formulae arguing that more power should be devolved to the moderates” knowing that they had pledged their loyalty to Prabhakaran. The intellectuals were hoping to wean the moderates” away from Prabhakaran by giving in to all their demands. But moderates” had surrendered their powers to Prabhakaran, whom they had acknowledged as the sole representatives of the Tamils”. So what was the point in giving  more powers to the moderates”? Even their well-meaning theories went to reinforce the powers of the invincible Surya Devan”. Clearly, the intellectuals had no viable solution to end the war. They operated on the misguided belief that minority rights”, claimed by a fascist tyrant, who was oppressing and killing the very minority he was supposed to liberate, should be appeased to end the war. Their theories were designed to appease the political agenda outlined in the Vadukoddai Resolution. In other words, they acted as stake holders in a peace process that was going nowhere.

Stuck with an anti-Sinhala-Buddhist bias they never understood the intrinsic dynamics that were driving the war into a dead end. It was Prabhakaran who was in the driver’s seat of the war. The war could end only either (1)  by appeasing him – i.e., agreeing to the establishment of a Tamil separate state—or (2) by eliminating him from the political equation. As the first option failed with several appeasements (CFA with international guarantees was one) the military option was the only way out. For instance, Prabhakaran shot to pieces the much-vaunted Cease-Fire Agreement, signed with much fanfare by the international community, Ranil Wickremesinghe, the then Prime Minister, and the NGOs. Did it end the war? The logic of evolving  events proved that only a decisive military offensive could end the war. Our intellectuals, their research centres in the NGOs, their theories and formulae were doomed to fail because none could appease Prabhakaran. His intransigence was immoveable. His arrogance arising particularly from his military successes, his fixed blinkers that prevented him from seeing the possibilities with flexible diplomacy, his instructions to his aides kill him if he fails to achieve Eelam, his ideological fixations, his tearing up of peace agreements and offers of power-sharing to coexist within a democratic state (CBK’s offer), his statements categorically asserting his commitment to Eelam or nothing, confirmed that there was no way of arriving at a negotiated settlement. He offered no alternative to his mono-ethnic extremism. He relied essentially and doggedly on his gun held at the head of the nation. He was depending on a military success.  He believed he could dictate terms to the world with his Kalashnikov. Consequently, the problem had to be finally settled with the gun. And that is what happened in the end with the minimum of fuss. Lord Naseby’s figures of casualties proved it.

Our intellectuals manufacturing peace formulae in NGOs refused to recognise these realities. To them the war was a gold mine funding their high life-style. Funded by foreign governments and allied agencies the centres manufacturing partisan knowledge” were run by peace mudalalais” with enough cash to buy some of the best intellectuals in academia and civil society. It is common knowledge that intellectuals are wont  to hawk their knowledge” to the highest bidders in the market. By and large, the Sri Lankan intellectuals formed an English-speaking, theory-spouting, anti-Sinhala-Buddhist, pro-Tamil  mafia guzzling free booze in the diplomatic cocktail circuit. Though they scratched their eyes out, fighting for the last dollar available in the pockets of the foreign-funders, they closed ranks to form a solid front against the democratically elected state. Simultaneously, they manufactured knowledges” to justify the violence of the Vadukoddai War. Playing footsy with  the fascist quasi-state in the North, they wrapped the Vadukoddian knuckles with a wet tissue paper occasionally to show that they were objective. They played with the power/knowledge relationship to manufacture the required quantum of knowledge” to influence the peace process – a role that financed their whisky-guzzling  life-style. Knowledge was manipulated to denigrate, demean and devalue the state and, thereby, to weaken its power. Simultaneously, another chunk of knowledge” was manufactured to glorify the Tamil mono-ethnic extremists on the basis of minority rights. Jehan Perera once claimed that Prabhakaran’s regime was democratic because it gave him permission to run just one seminar on the periphery of Vanni.

Victimology was played to the hilt. Seminars, publications, lectures, media, films etc, were organised and exploited to manipulate knowledge” to serve their political agenda. In Sri Lanka, the NGOs trawled every nook and corner in the South fishing for knowledge” that could demonise  the Sinhala-Buddhists. The ICES, for instance, produced research” on the Kalutara Maha Bodhiya and Vihara Maha Devi Park. But it never bothered to even peep behind the cadjan curtain in Jaffna to unearth the forces that were driving  Jaffna into irreversible extremism. Jaffna, the centre of Northern politics, was never explored in depth to expose the horrors of the inherent Sankili-Vellala culture of violence. To me ICES was the Incestuous Cabal for Eelamist Sycophants producing knowledge” to justify the violent Tamil political culture while denigrating the Sinhala-Buddhist society in the South. A typical example is that of three intellectuals from the South who sat at the feet of Velupillai Prabhakaran in the Vanni and returned home to inform the media at a press conference that he is humane”. It was ridiculous.

All three of them were left-leaning intellectuals. Fr. Kenneth Fernando, Bishop of the Anglican Church, Charles Abeysekera, an ex-civil servant who left government service under a cloud, and Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, a committed Marxist who hero-worshipped the Southern fascist killer, Rohana Wijeweera, leader of the JVP., were public intellectuals involved in the political discourse.  When they proclaimed that Prabhakaran was humane” they reached the giddy limit of morality. Take the case of Prof. Uyangoda, a cock-eyed Marxist, if ever there was one. He knew that Karl Marx, his revered guru, earned some pocket money, by contributing the New York Herald Tribune. If he was reporting on Sri Lanka would he have ever categorised Prabhakaran as humane”? Besides, it was a despicable lie. In his famous  essay on The Responsibility of Intellectuals, Noam Chomsky decried the failure of the intellectuals to tell the truth to centres of power. The anger in Noam Chomsky‘s article was mainly against the intellectuals like Arthur Schlesinger, the Harvard historian, who lied to justify Kennedy invasion of the Bay of Pigs. Colin Powell is another who lied through his teeth when he accused Saddam Hussein of possessing WMDS.  Powell lied to wage war. Uyangoda lied to boost the image of a beastly killer who had no compassion even to the live insects he pinned on the pages of his books when he was young. Apart from the moral considerations, their statement that Prabhakaran was humane” actually questions the sanity of these three intellectuals. A lie of that magnitude is unpardonable. The only possible explanation is that it was not difficult for Prof. Uyangoda to shift his political loyalties from the Southern fascist killer, Rohana Wijeweera, to the Northern fascist killer, Prabhakaran!

He is typical of the twisted intellectuals produced by the Vadukoddai War. Jehan Perera too proved to be a shameless liar when he conferred arbitrarily a doctorate on Anton Balasingham, the Goebbels of the Eelamists. The immorality of these intellectuals is in the fact that they knew they were lying on behalf of Prabhakaran – a Pol Potist killer. If a choice had to be made it should have been on the side of the democratic state. A victory for Prabhakaran would never have brought dignity, equality or justice to the Tamils, nor peace to the  rest of the nation. As a one-man regime he could survive only in a permanent state of war. Dictators need wars as a scapegoat to justify their fascist oppression. Besides, a democracy and a dictatorship could never co-exist in peace within an island. The tensions between the two systems make wars inevitable. What is worse, Prabhakaran could never deliver dignity, equality or justice to the Tamils in his fascist regime. Peace could be won only by eliminating him from the political equation. History has proved it: there is peace because the Security Forces definitively put an end to Prabhakaran killing Tamils. 

Our intellectuals refused to recognise the realities. They continued to believe in their theoretical fictions because it sustained their life-style, or advanced their careers in academia, or gained glory as new knowledge-makers in partisan research centres. They, however, bragged that they possessed the alternative to war. The Centre for Policy Alternative was supposed to provide alternatives to the likes of Prabhakaran. That is a tragi-comic saga that should be explored in the next article.

mahindapala8@gmail.com

Raj Gonsalkorale

The Sri Lankan Daily Mirror reports that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) have jointly called for a more engaged  role by the United States in promoting human rights, accountability, political resolution, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka (see https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking news/TNA-GTF-jointly-call-for-more-U-S-engagement/108-225498

The report went on to state, quote” The particular focus of the current engagement was to call for a proactive USG role in promoting a holistic approach to reconciliation, which would include addressing the root cause of conflict and human rights violations, the denial of political rights to the Tamil people. The Delegation emphasised that addressing the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace, dignity, and meaningful power devolution is critical in guaranteeing non-recurrence. The challenges faced by the Tamil community on a daily basis to protect their land and preserve their identity in the Tamil majority Northern and Eastern Provinces against rampant militarisation and state sponsored initiatives aimed at altering regional demography was discussed. Details of some of the recent land appropriation measures by the government of Sri Lanka were presented and the urgency to counter such measures with international assistance was sought” unquote.

While not arguing that Tami people of Sri Lanka do not have unresolved issues, one needs to be clear about the Tamil people that are represented by the TNA and the GTF. For many Sri Lankans, especially Sinhala and Muslims, Tamils of the country are one community irrespective of where they live, how long ago they arrived in the island, their castes and station in life. If Tamils face any ongoing discriminatory practices in the hands of the majority community, all Tamils face these and not only some. For the Sinhala and Muslim community, some Tamils are not more equal than others.

This does not seem to be the case for the TNA and the GTF. They seem to be the spokes persons for the Tamils in the North and the East, and one wonders whether this partiality extends to those belonging to particular castes as well. It is more than certain that the US government which has promised to support addressing of ongoing problems of the Tamil community, do not have an idea of the complexities associated with what is understood to be as the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

In an article titled Which Tamils hopes are fading? Open letter to Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole”, published in the Colombo Telegraph on the 4^th of March 2019, (https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/open-letter-to-professor-ratnajeevan-hoole-which-tamils-hopes-are-fading/), the writer presented a few challenges to Professor Hoole. Many parts of this article are quoted here due to its relevance to the current topic TNA, GTF articulates Tamil people’s concerns; Which segment of the Tamil people?”

Quote” Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole in an article appearing in the Colombo Telegraph on the 1^st of March, poses the question Tamils’ hopes fading: Every village is Sinhalese? Raghavan sacked?” Firstly, it will be useful and important for the good Professor to clarify for all of us who he means when he refers to Tamil hopes are fading”. The Tamil population demographics and its composition is very complex and Professor Hoole should inform readers whether he is referring to all Tamils living in the country or whether he is referring to a specific group of Tamils. There are Northern Province Tamils, Eastern Province Tamils, Plantation or up country Tamils”, Tamils living in areas outside the above areas who are from all of the above areas, Tamil speaking non Tamils (Islamiyath Thamilar or Tamil Muslims) and so on” unquote.

In the same article the writer quoted Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan, Chair of the Conflict Resolution Department, Salisbury University, Maryland who in an article titled Who Is a Tamil?” published in the Colombo Telegraph in December 2016, had stated that in view of the devolution debate in general and devolution to the North-East Provinces in particular, the term Tamil” means Sri Lankan Tamils,” who live or have roots in the North-East Provinces. He also says that The Sri Lankan Tamils on the other hand, believe that the North-East Provinces are their homeland” and they fought for a separate state”.

As the writer challenged both gentlemen, it is perhaps opportune to challenge the TNA and the GTF and ask the question whether they unequivocally subscribe to the view expressed by Dr Keethaponcalan’s that when a reference is made to Tamil hopes are fading”, whether in fact the reference is only to the hopes of Sri Lankan Tamils, who live or have roots in the North-East Provinces and who believe the North and East is their homeland”. This clarification is important as one needs to know the wants, needs and objectives of the group of Tamils referred to as Sri Lankan Tamils by Dr Keethaponcalan who goes onto state that that in Sri Lanka, a distinction is made between Indian (or plantation or up-country) Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils.

Dr Keethaponcalan also stated that he quote subscribes to the idea that Muslims are not and that they are an independent social group defined by religion. Every social group has the right to define it’s identify as it deems fit. The Muslims have the right to define who they are. Tamils trying to define the Muslims identity may make them hegemonic. Therefore, Tamil people, do not include the Muslims. The recognition that Muslims are an independent group has the potential to promote Muslim-Tamil reconciliation” unquote.

Dr Keethaponcalan mentions that Sir Ponnampalam Ramanathan had famously argued that Muslims are Islamiyath Thamilar. This notion created serious rift between the two communities. Muslims believed that Tamils have political motives to label them as Tamils. Many Muslims who write about Muslim-Tamil issues often start their analysis from Ramanathan. The label, Islamiyath Thamilar makes the Muslims a subcategory of Tamil. Hence, the resistance. In this context, it would not be out of place to state that the Tamil speaking Muslim community in the Eastern province cannot be taken as Tamils” as the TNA does, when it suits them, to include them to bolster Tamil” community numbers in the Eastern province.

The complexity of the composition of Tamils from a Sinhala perspective and how Tamils themselves define their composition is a barrier that has created difficulties in finding a solution to what is generally referred to as the Tamil” issue.

The writer, in an article published in the Daily FT New Constitution: Reinforcing the Tamil homeland theory or solving the Tamil” issue?” (http://www.ft.lk/opinion/New-Constitution–Reinforcing-the-Tamil-homeland-theory-or-solving-the-%E2%80%9CTamil%E2%80%9D-issue-/14-671737), pointed out that in contemporary Sri Lanka, only two provinces have a Tamil majority. The Northern Province, which has a Tamil population of 93.8% and the Eastern Province, a Tamil population of 39.2%. The statistics quoted in this article are from the Census conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics in 2012. Nationally, 51.5% of all Tamils in the country live in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, while 48.5% live outside these two provinces. In reality, 48.5% of the Tamil population lives as minorities in seven of the nine provinces in the country. In the Eastern Province, the Tamil population is a minority if the Sinhala and Muslim population is combined.

The writer also pointed out that if the intention of a new Constitution, whenever it is formulated,  is to devolve power, or some powers, to the provinces and make them more independent (of the centre), and provide avenues for greater self-determination, from a Tamil perspective, their minority status in the seven provinces and in the Eastern Province (when the Sinhala and Muslim populations are combined) will not provide the freedom and the flexibility their brethren will have in the Northern Province. So, in this sense, a class of Tamils who are more equal than others (in the rest of the country) will be created. 

If the Tamil” issue arose on account of domination and discrimination by the Sinhala majority, then, a new Constitution will not change anything except in the Northern province as the status quo in regard to the majority position will remain elsewhere irrespective of constitutional provisions that prohibit discrimination by race, religion, gender, disability, etc. as already enshrined in the current Constitution.

In respect of the Tamil” issue, granting greater devolution of powers to provinces will benefit the Tamils in the Northern Province and to a lesser extent the Tamils in the Eastern Province. Other Tamils will have to work out how best they could share power with the Sinhala community and other communities and work for the betterment of all communities. The question that springs to mind is whether this is in fact what a constitution model should be for the entire country, and what kind of constitutional structure would provide the foundation for a society which accepts and respects the diversity of the country.

If it is to do with a political issue, which is substantially the Tamil homeland issue, it is a highly debateable issue and it is one without any solution as it has no contemporary bearing and only circumstantial information. If as Professor Hoole has argued, the solution is a Tamil homeland in the North and the East, there will not be any hope for the Tamils he is referring to. The question of provincial devolution, both administrative and political, is something that can and should be visited, but, there has to be clarity on the ultimate objective/s and desires of the different groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Classifying only some Tamils as Sri Lankan Tamils does not appear to facilitate such a clarification especially to others who are not Sri Lankan Tamils” and also to the majority Sinhala community and the Muslim community.

If the TNA and the GTF are of the same view as Professor Hoole and Dr Keethaponcalan as regards what is termed as a solution for the Tamil issue”, in that it is to do with carving out a territory comprising of the North and East provinces of the country for Tamils living there or who have roots there, and creating a separate State or a fully autonomous political State, then unfortunately for the Tamils, their solution will only be the beginning of a new problem and not a solution. A lasting solution should include some political administrative devolution, but to all provinces, on the premise that such an exercise is needed to serve the people in provinces better, more effectively and efficiently. Besides this, Tamil people of all segments within what is identified as Tamils of Sri Lanka should be represented, and should have sufficient power in the National Parliament to ensure justice and fair play for all Tamils and to ensure they are not subjugated by an accidental numerical majority status enjoyed by the Sinhala Buddhist community. A divisive methodology to address Tamil concerns surely cannot be called a solution, and hopefully, the TNA, GTF and other Tamil political parties will accept this at least for the sake of the people they claim they represent.

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ, සභාපති, සිංහල සංවර්ධන සංවිධානය

මෙම කරුණ පිළිබඳව අප විසින් කලින් ලිපි කිහිපයක් පල කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව ලබන වසර (2022) සඳහා වන පාසැල් පොත් වල කලින් තිබු ශ්‍රී ලාංකික (සිංහල) ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කිරීම්  නිවැරදි කර තිබේ. මෙවර පොත් යුරෝපිය, ඉන්දීය ඉතිහාස වලින් ද පුරවා ඇති බව පෙනේ.

නමුත්, සිංහල ඉතිහාසයට අහිතකරවු වැරදි රාශියක් තවමත් ඇත. ඒවා අප මෙසේ ඉදිරිපත් කරමු:

6 ශ්‍රේණිය පොත  (සංස්කාරක මණ්ඩලය –  හඟුරන්කෙත ධීරානන්ද හිමි, රාජ් සෝමදේව, පත්මසිරි කන්නංගර, චන්දිමා ධර්මපාල) –

33වෙනි පිටුව – විජය නමින් හැඳින්වෙන කුමරෙකු ……. ඉන්දියාවේ සිට පැමිණ මේ රටේ පදිංචි වූ බව ඉතිහාසයේ සඳහන්ය. මේ බව පැහැදිලිව විස්තර වන්නේ  ……. මහාවංශය නම් වූ වැදගත් ඓතිහාසික මුලාශ්‍රයෙනි.” 

විජය ‘නමින්’ , මහාවංශය ‘නම්වූ’ වදන් වලින් සිසු දරුවාගේ මනසේ විජය, මහාවංශය පිළිබඳව කුකුසක් ඇති කරවයි. මෙය උවමනාවෙන්ම සිදු කර ඇති දෙයකි.

මෙම පොත විජයාගමනය ඉතාම  සුළුවෙන් හුවා දක්වයි. විජය රජු උතුරු ඉන්දියාවේ වංග දේශයේ, ලාට රටේ සිංහබාහු රජුගේ පුත්‍රයා බව මෙම පොත පාසැල් දරුවන්ගෙන් වසන් කරයි. 19, 20වෙනි ශතවර්ෂ වල ලියැවුණු පාසැල් ඉතිහාස පොත් වල මේ බව අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම සඳහන් වුණි. ඒ පිළිබඳව දීර්ඝ විස්තර ලබා දෙන ලදී.

සිංහලයා තමා විජය රජුගෙන් පැවත ඒම ගැන ඉතා ආඩම්බර වුහ. දැනට වසර 20ක පමණ සිට සිංහලයා පැවතෙන්නේ විජයගෙන් නොව රාවණා වැනි මිත්‍යා චරිතවලින් බව පෙන්වා දීමට ඇතැම්  ඉතිහාසඥයෝ මහත් උත්සහයක් දරත්. ඒසේත් නොමැතිනම්, සිංහලයාගේ සම්භවය නොපැහැදිලි, අවුල් සහගත දෙයක් ලෙස පෙන්වීමට ඔවුහු උත්සහ දරත්. මහාවංශය බොරු බවත්, සිංහලයාට ප්‍රථම මේ රටේ ද්‍රවිඩයන් වාසය කල බවත්, සිංහලයාට ඇත්තේ උතුරු ඉන්දීය නොව දකුණු ඉන්දීය සම්භවයක් බවත් ඉතා  සුක්ෂම ලෙස පෙන්වා දීම ඔවුන්ගේ වෑයමයි. ප්‍රභාකරන්, ඇන්ටන් බාලසිංහම්, විග්නේස්වරන්, සීවජිලිංගම් වැන්නන්ට අවශ්‍ය කලේ ද  මේ මතයම සමාජගත කිරීමටය.  

දෙමළ ඊලාම් වාදීන් සිංහල ඉතිහාසය අවුල් කිරීමට කුවේණිය ද්‍රවිඩ කාන්තාවක් යයි කියති. දේවානම් පියතිස්ස ‘පියතිස්සම්’ වශයෙන් හුවා දක්වති. 

බුදුන් වහන්සේ පැමිණීමට ප්‍රථම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ බුදු සසුන තිබුණි, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දෙමළ බෞද්ධයෝ වුහ, බුදුන් වහන්සේ උපන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේය, ලොව සියල්ලන්ටම පෙර වාගේ වී වගාව, යකඩ සොයා ගැනීම සිදු කලේ සිංහලයාය, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිංහයෝ සැරි සැරූහ, මීට වසර 49,000 පෙර සිංහලයෝ හෝර්ටන් තැන්නේ බාර්ලි, ඕට්ස් වැවුහ වැනි  බොරු කියන ඉතිහාසඥයෝ/පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයෝ අද සිටිති.

මේ බොරු ප්‍රචාර වෙනුවෙන් ඇතැම් පුද්ගලික රුපවාහිනි නාලිකා තදින්ම වැඩ කළහ, අදද වැඩ කරති. රාවණා රුවක් රාවණා ඇල්ල පසු පස කළු ගලේ දිස්වන බවට බොරුවක් මේ මෑතකදී අන්තවාදී ද්‍රවිඩ අයිතිකරුවන් ඇති එක් රූපවාහිනී මාධ්‍යයක් විසින් ප්‍රචාරණය කරන ලදී.  අද ඇතැම් යු ටියුබ් නාලිකාද මේ බොරු ප්‍රවර්ධනයට තදින්ම වැඩ කරයි. 

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ තරම් ඉතිහාසය ඉතා හොඳින් ග්‍රන්තාරූට කරන ලද වෙනත් කිසිම රටක් ලොව නැතැයි කිවේ පොන්නම්බලම් රාමනාදන්ය. නමුත් නුතන ඉතිහාසඥයන් උත්සහ දරන්නේ එම පැහැදිලි ඉතිහාසය අවුල් ජාලාවක් බවට පත් කිරීමටය. එහිදී, අපේ දරුවන් නොමඟ යැවීමට තැත් කිරීම සමාව නොදිය හැකි වරදකි.

වසර 2000ට එහා සිට මුළු ලොවම පිළිගත් ඉතිහාසයක් මෙරට අපට ඇත. එය අනගාරික ධර්මපාල, වලිසිංහ හරිස්චන්ද්‍ර, පෝල් ඊ පීරිස්, සෙනරත් පරණවිතාන, පී ද එස් කුලරත්න, එල් එච් මෙත්තානන්ද, චාර්ල්ස් ගොඩකුඹුර, ගුණපාල මලලසේකර, මාර්ටින් වික්‍රමසිංහ, එදිරිවීර සරත්චන්ද්‍ර, මඩිහේ පන්ඥාසීහ හිමි  වැනි වියතුන් අපට ඉගැන්වූ ඉතිහාසයයි. තමන් මේ වියතුන්ට වඩා දන්නේය යන මතයේ සිට අපේ පිළිගත් ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කිරීමට වලිකණ නුතන ඉතිහාසඥයන්/පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයන් පිරිසක් මතුවීම අභාග්‍යයකි. සියල්ල සිදුවුයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යයි ඔවුහු කියති. මේවා විශ්වාස කරන අප දරුවන් ජාත්‍යාන්තරයට ගිය විට තමන්ගේ දැනුම වැරදි බව වැටහෙන විට සියල්ල පමා වී වැඩිය.

35 පිටුව – අවුරුදු 4000 කට ඉහත කාලයකදී ඔවුහු යකඩ සොයා ගත්හ.”

මෙය නව සොයා ගැනීමකි. එවැන්නක් ‘peer review’ මඟින් ලෝකයේ පිළිගත් ඉතිහාසඥයන් විසින් සනාථ කල යුතුය. අප දන්නා පරිදි එවැන්නක් සිදුවී නොමැත. ලෝකයේ පැරණිතම මානව ශිෂ්ටාචාරය වන්නේ ඉන්දු වැලිය. එය වසර 5500කට එහා වුවකි. විකිපීඩියා අනුව ලොව මුලින්ම වාත්තු යකඩ සොයා ගත්තේ චීනයේය. ඒ මින්  වසර 3500කට පෙරය.

7 ශ්‍රේණිය පොත   (සංස්කාරක මණ්ඩලය – පද්මසිරි කන්නංගර, රාජ් සෝමදේව, අනුෂා සේනාධිරාජා, චන්දිමා ධර්මපාල) –

60වෙනි පිටුව – යාපනය රාජධානිය ගැන වෛය්පමාලයි සහ ගේගරාසසේකරමාලයි යන ග්‍රන්ථ මේ රාජ්‍ය ගැන තොරතුරු සපයන මුලාශ්‍රයන් වේ.”

මෙවැනි ග්‍රන්ථ ගැන අප කිසිදා අසා නැත්තෙමු. මේවා මෑතක බිහිවූ ග්‍රන්ථ විය නොහැකිද? අප අසා ඇත්තේ මහාවංශය, දීපවංශ, චුලවංශය, පුජාවලිය වැනි මුලාශ්‍රය. ඒවායේ දැක්වෙන ඉතිහාසය සත්‍යය.

61 වෙනි පිටුව – යාපනය රජ පරම්පරාව ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්තී පරපුර ලෙස හැඳින්වේ. එම රජ පරම්පාරාවේ ආරම්භකයා විජය කුලංගෛය් ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්තී වේ. මෙබඳු පාලකයන් 12 දෙනෙකු සිටි බවට තොරතුරු තිබේ. ගම්පොල යුගයේදී සහ කෝට්ටේ යුගයේදී යාපනය රාජ්‍ය ප්‍රධාන රාජධානියට යටත් කෙරුණි. එහෙත් පසුව යාපනයේ රජවරු යළි තම බලය පිහිටුවා ගත්හ. පෘතුගීසින් පැමිණෙන විට යාපනය පාලනය කරන ලද්ද්දේ සංකිලි රජු විසිනි. 1619 වර්ෂයේදී පෘතුගීසීහු යාපනය ආක්‍රමණය කොට තම ආධිපත්‍යට යටත් කළහ.”

‘විජය කුලංගෛය්’ වදන නව සොයා ගැනීමක්ද?  විජය රජු සහ ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්ති එකම සම්භවයක් ඇති බවට පෙන්වීමට වෑයම් කිරීමක්ද?

අනුරාධපුර යුගයේ ආරම්භයේ සිට මහනුවර යුගයේ අවසානය දක්වා කිසිම අවස්ථාවක යාපනය අර්ධද්විපයේ ස්වාධින ද්‍රවිඩ රාජ්‍යක් තිබුනේ නැත වශයෙන් මහාචාර්ය සිරිමල් රණවැල්ල පවසයි.

දාමරික දකුණු ඉන්දියානුවන් විටින් විට පැමිණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආක්‍රමණය කල බව සැබවී. සිංහල රජවරුන් සෑම විටම ඔවුන් පලවා හැරියහ. එළාර දෙමල නොව ඉරාණ සම්භවයක් ඇත්තේ යයි ඇතැම් ඉතිහාසඥයන් දක්වා ඇත. මෙහි සත්‍ය අසත්‍ය භාවය මෙම ලිපිකරු නොදනී.

දෙමළ ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්තී වසර එකහමාරකට අඩු කාලයක් බලහත්කාරයෙන් යාපනය පාලනය කල බව ඉතිහාසඥයන් දක්වා ඇත.  ඉන්පසු සපුමල් කුමාරයා කෝට්ටේ 6 වන පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජතුමා යටතේ යාපනය පාලනය කළේය. එය සත්‍යයකි.

6 වන පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජතුමා (1412 – 1467) කෝට්ටේ සිට යාපනය මුලුමනින්ම පාලනය කළේය. යාපනය සිංහල රාජ්‍යට අයත් විය. කාර්තිගේසු ඉන්ද්‍රපාල මහාචාර්යවරයා පවසන්නේ මෙම පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජු යාපනය පාලනය කරන අවධියේ කයිට්ස් දුපතේ ඉතා වැදගත් නාවික මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් පවත්වාගෙන ගිය බවයි (1983න් පසු මොහු ඊළාම්වාදියෙක් වී තමන්ගේ පර්යේෂණ තමන් විසින්ම මොට කරගැනීමට උත්සහ ගත්තේය).

දෙමළ රජවරුන් 12ක් ඇත්තටම ස්වාධීනව යාපනය පාලනය කලේ නම් ඒ අයගේ නම් අපගේ දරුවනට මේ පෙළ පොත් මඟින් දිය යුතුය.          මේ කියමන් සත්‍ය බව සාක්ෂාත් කල යුතුය.

යාපනයේ දෙමළ රජවරුන් සිටියා නම් ඔවුන්ගේ සෙල් ලිපි තිබිය යුතුය. නමුත් එවැනි එකදු සෙල් ලිපියක්වත් මෙතෙක් හමුවී නොමැත.  

8වන ශ්‍රේණිය පොත (සංස්කාරක මණ්ඩලය  – පත්මසිරි කන්නංගර, අනුෂා සේනාධිරාජා, චන්දිමා ධර්මපාල)

කිසිදු අඩුපාඩුවක් නොමැත

9වන ශ්‍රේණිය පොත (සංස්කාරක මණ්ඩලය  – පත්මසිරි කන්නංගර, පී පුෂ්පරත්නම්, කේ අරුන්තවරාජා, චන්දිමා ධර්මපාල, සමන්ති ගුණවර්ධන)

අනගාරික ධර්මපාලතුමා පිළිබඳව මෙවර පොතේ වැඩි සඳහනක් කිරීම හොඳය. නමුත් ‘හින්දු පුනර්ජීවන ව්‍යාපාරය’ යනුවෙන් වන පර්ච්චේදයේ ආරුමුගම් නාවලර්ට ධර්මපාලතුමාට වඩා වැඩි තැනක් පොතෙන් දී තිබේ.

10වන ශ්‍රේණිය (සංස්කාරක මණ්ඩලය – හඟුරන්කෙත ධීරානන්ද හිමි, රාජ සෝමදේව, පත්මසිරි කන්නංගර, අනුෂා සේනාධිරාජා, සමන්ති ගුණවර්ධන) –

29වෙනි පිටුව මහාවංශය සඳහන් කරන ආකාරයට විජය කුමරු ඇතුළු ඔහුගේ පිරිස මෙරටට පැමිණෙන අවධියේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉතා සංවිධානාත්මක සමාජයක් පැවතිණි.”

මෙය අසත්‍ය ප්‍රකාශයකි. මහාවංශයේ එවැන්නක් සඳහන්ව නැත. කුවේණිගේ යක්ෂ ගෝත්‍රිකයන් ‘දඩයම සහ එකතුකිරිම’ යන ජීවන රටාව ගෙවුවෝය. ඔවුන් ඕස්ත්‍රේලියාවේ ඇබරජින්වරුන්ට වඩා දියුණු තත්ත්වයේ වුහ. නමුත් කෘෂිකාර්මික නොවුහ. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දියුණු කෘෂිකාර්මික ජීවන රටාවක් ඇරඹියේ විජයාගමනයට පසුවයි. එවැනි සමාජයකට මුලාරම්භය හොඳින්ම වැටුනේ පණ්ඩුකාභය/දේවානම් පිය තිස්ස රජ සමයන්හීය.

මහාවංශය සඳහන් කරන ආකාරයට විජය ලංකාවට පැමිණියේ බුදුන් වහන්සේ පිරිනිවන් පෑ දිනයේය. මහාවංශයට අනුව පිරිනිවන් මංචකයේ හොත්තාවූ බුදුන් වහන්සේ ශක්‍රයා අමතා ‘සිංහබා පිත් තෙල විජය කුමර අනගත සත් සියයක් පිරිවර ඇතිව ලාට රටින් ලක්දිව් බැසේය. දේවේන්ද්‍රය මාගේ සස්න ලක්දිව්හි පිහිටන්නේය. එහෙයින් පිරිවර සහිත උහුද ලංකාවද මොනවට රකුව’ යි වදාළ සේක.”

31වෙනි පිටුව – ක්‍රිස්තු පුර්ව 2400ක තරම් ඈත කාලයක සිට මෙරට කෘෂිකාර්මික සමාජයක් දියුණු වෙමින් පැවති බව බෙරගල, හල්දුම්මුල්ල ආදී ප්‍රදේශවලින් සොයා ගෙන තිබෙන පැරණි සොහොන් බිම්වලින් තහවරු වී ඇත.” 

මේවා දැවැන්ත නව සොයා ගැනීම්ය; ඒවා ලෝක ඉතිහාසඥයන් කිසි තැනක සනාථ කර නැත.  සොහොන් බිම් වලින් මෙවැනි දේ සනාථ වෙන්නේ කෙසේද? 

මේ පොතේ කතෘන්  කියන ලෙස දැනට වසර 4400 ක පමණ සිට මෙරට කෘෂිකාර්මික ජිවන ක්‍රමයක් පැවතිණි. මුළු ලොවම පිළිගන්නේ ලොව ප්‍රථම කෘෂිකාර්මික ජිවන ක්‍රමය බිහි වුයේ මිසපොටේමියාවේය (දැනට වසර 5500ට ප්‍රථම). ඉන්පසුව ලොව බිහිවූ කෘෂිකාර්මික ශිෂ්ටාචාර වනුයේ  ඊජිප්තුව, ඉන්දු වැලි සහ දකුණු ඇමරිකාවේ ඇන්ඩිස් කඳුකරය ආශ්‍රිතවයි. ලොව කිසිම පොතක ශ්‍රී ලංකාවද මේ ගොන්නට අයත් වන බව පවසා නැත.

කෘෂිකාර්මික ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක් (ජීවන රටාවක්) යනු බෝග වගාවන් සහ සත්ව පාලනයෙන් ජිවන ක්‍රමය ගෙන යන සමාජයකි. ක්‍රමානුකූලව භුමිය වගා කිරීම සහ සතුන් පාලනය කිරීම ඒ සමාජයේ ප්‍රධානතම ජීවන ක්‍රමයයි. ඒ තත්ත්වයට එන්නේ ‘දඩයම සහ එකතුකිරිම’ යන ජීවන රටාවෙන් ඔබ්බට දියුණු වීමෙනි. කර්මාන්ත ඇතත් අද ද  ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කෘෂිකාර්මික ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක් (ජීවන රටාවක්) ඇති රටක් වශයෙන් දැක්විය හැක (කලින් සඳහන් කලාක් මෙන් පන්ඩුකාභය/දේවානම් පියතිස්ස ඒ ආරම්හය අපට දුනහ). වෙනත් බොහෝ රටවල්ද එසේය.  ඉන්දියාව කාර්මික වීමට උත්සහ දරන තවමත් කෘෂිකාර්මික රටකි. කෘෂිකාර්මික ජිවන රටාවක් තුල වවන ලද බෝග වල අතිරික්තය ගබඩා කිරීමක් සිදුවේ.  කෘෂිකාර්මික ජිවන රටාවට පසුව එන්නේ 3වෙණි සහ අවසාන ජිවන රටාව වන කාර්මික ජිවන රටාවයි. අද ඇමරිකාව, බටහිර යුරෝපය, ජපානය, ඕස්ත්‍රේලියාව, දකුණු කොරියාව වැනි රටවල්.  මේවාද කාලාන්තරයක් කෘෂිකාර්මික ජිවන රටාවන් හෙබි රටවල් විය.  

පිටුව 31 – එහෙයින් මෙරට සමාජයේ දේශපාලන බලය දියුණු වීමේ ඉතිහාසය විජය කුමරුගේ පැමිණීමට පෙර වකවානුවට අයත්ය.”  

දේශපාලන බලය යනු නුතන සංකල්පයකි. එය පක්ෂ දේශපාලනය, ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය වැනි දේ හා බැඳේ. විජය/කුවේණි කල පැවතියේ ජීවන රටාවකි, දේශපාලනයක් තිබුනේ නැත.

පිටුව 31 – රටක් පාලනය කිරීමේ බලය රජුට හෝ රැජිනකට පවරා දෙනු ලබන්නේ එරටේ වෙසෙන මහජනයා විසිනි. කවරෙකුට වුව රටක් පාලනය කිරීමට මහජනතාවගේ කැමැත්ත අවශ්‍යය.”

මේ අදහස වැරදිය. මේ අදහස නුතන ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සමාජයනට බලපායි. නමුත් ආදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රජවරුන් බලයට පැමිණයේ මහජන කැමැත්ත ලබා ගෙන නොවේ.  උරුමය, යුධ වැදීම්, රජුන් ඝාතනය කිරීම වැනි ක්‍රියාවලින් බලය අල්ලා ගත්හ.  අදද ලෝකයේ ඒකාධිපති පාලන ක්‍රමයන් ඇත – එනම් මහජන කැමැත්ත නොමැතිව බලහත්කාරයෙන් කරන රාජ්‍ය පාලනයි.

42 පිටුව – විමධ්‍යගතව පැවතී මෙරට දේශපාලනය මධ්‍යගත කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරය ආරම්භ කරන ලද්දේ දුටුගැමුණු රජතුමා විසිනි.”

දුටුගැමුණු රජතුමාට ප්‍රථම සිටි එළාර මුළු රටම රාජ්‍ය කල බවට සාධක නොමැත. ඔහුගේ අණසක අනුරාධපුරය කේන්ද්‍ර කර පැවතුනි. එසේ නම් මධ්‍යගත රාජ්‍ය කිරීමක් එළාරට අදාළ නොවේ. දුටුගැමුණු රජතුමා දේශපාලනයක් නොකළ බවත් එතුමා පිය උරුමයෙන් රජකමට පත්වූ බවත් ඕනෑම කෙනෙක් දන්නා කරුණකි. බලය විමධ්‍යගත කිරීම වැනිදේ නුතන සංකල්පය, ඒවා පුරාණ රාජධානි සමයේ නොපැවතිණි. රජවරුන් ඒකාධිපතිත්වයෙන්, සිය අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය සමඟ, තනිව රාජ්‍යන් පාලනය කළහ. ඒකාධිපති වුවත් ඉතා හොඳ, කාරුණික, ධාර්මික, බුද්ධිමත් බොහෝ රජවරු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වුහ.

 61 පිටුව – පුරාණ කාලයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පාලන කටයුතු විධායකය, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය සහ අධිකරණය යනුවෙන් ආයතන තුනක් මඟින් ක්‍රියාත්මක විය.”

මෙය වැරදිය. සියල්ල පැවතියේ රජතුමාගේ අණසක යටතේය. සුළු නඩු ඇසීමට රජතුමා  නිලධාරීන් පත් කල බව සැබවී. මරණ දඬුවම නියම කිරීමේ අයිතිය තිබුනේ රජතුමාට පමණි. රජකාලයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයක් තිබුනා යයි පැවසීම වැරදිය. මේවා ඉතා නුතන සංකල්ප වේ. අපගේ වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ නම් රාජ්‍ය පාලනය විධායකය, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය සහ අධිකරණය යන කාණ්ඩ 3ට බෙදා තිබේ. එදා රජ කාලයේ මෙවැනි රාජ්‍ය පාලන සංකල්ප තිබුනේ නැත.

61 පිටුව – ….. සෑම  අවස්ථාවකදීම අපේ පැරණි පාලකයෝ නම්‍යශීලි විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් අනුගමනය කළහ.”

ඒ කාලයේ ‘විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්ති’ කියා දෙයක් තිබුනේ නැත. නම්‍යශීලි විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් පැවැත්වුයේ කිනම් රාජ්‍යයන් සමඟද කියා සිසුනට දැක්විය යුතුය. 1955 බැන්ඩුන් සමුළුවෙන් පසු නොබැඳි ව්‍යාපාරය ලොව මුලින්ම ඇරඹුණේ 1961දි යුගෝස්ලාවියාවේ බෙල්ග්‍රේඩ් නුවර පැවති සමුළුවෙනි.

103 පිටුව – යාපනය රාජධානියේ ආරම්භකයා විජය කුලංකෛ ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්තී ලෙස සැලකේ. ඔහුගේ පාලන කාලයේ සිට පෘතුගීසින්ගේ පැමිණීම තෙක් යාපන ප්‍රදේශය පාලනය කළ කුලශේකර, වික්කිරම, වරෝදය, මාර්තන්ඩ වැනි පාලකයන් දොලොස්දෙනෙකු පිලිබඳ විස්තරයක් යාල්පාන චෛය්පව මාලයි ග්‍රන්ථයෙහි දක්වා තිබේ.”

මේවා මෑත කාලයේ එළිදැක්වූ ග්‍රන්ථ නාමය. සමහවිට 21 වන සියවසේ මතුවූ පොත් විය හැක. මෙම ලියුම්කරු මේ පොත් ගැන නොදනී.

අප දන්නා පිළිගත් ඉතිහාසය නම් යාපනයේ ස්වාධින දෙමළ රාජ්‍යන් තිබී නැත. පෘතුගීසින් පැමිණෙන තෙක්ම යාපනයේ සිටි යුව රජුන්/කුමරුන් පාලනය වුයේ කෝට්ටේ සිංහල රාජධානියෙනි. ‘ලංකා ආක්‍රමණය’ යන පොතේ ක්ව්රෝස් නමැති පෘතුගීසි කතෝලික ඉතිහාසඥයා සඳහන් කරන්නේ ද්‍රවිඩ නායකයන් ඒ ප්‍රදේශ පාලනය කරන ලද්දේ කෝට්ටේ රාජ්‍යය යටතේ වූ පාලකයන් වශයෙන් බවය.  ඕලන්ද කාලයේ කාලයේ විසු ඕලන්ද ජාතික පිලිපස් බැල්දියස්  පියතුමා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පිළිබඳව විස්තරයක් සඳහන් කරමින් දක්වනුයේ එකල සිටි දෙවන රාජසිංහ රජු (1635 – 1687) ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ එම්ප්‍රදෝරු රජු වශයෙන් ඕලන්ද ආණ්ඩුකාරතුමා හැඳින්වූ බවයි. ඔහු කියන පරිදි එකල ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඒ රජු හට ආරූට කරන ලද රාජ්‍ය 5කින් සමන්විත විය – කන්ද උඩරට, කෝට්ටේ, දඹදෙණිය, අනුරාධපුරය සහ යාපා පටුනයි. එම රජු ත්‍රිකුණාමලේහි සහ මඩකලපුවේ කවුන්ට් වරයා යන විරුදාවලියෙන් ඕලන්ද නායකයන් සලකා ඇත. රොබර්ට් නොක්ස් ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේදී අත් අඩංගුවට ගැනීමෙන් පසු භාර දෙන ලද්දේ කන්ද උඩරට රජුටය, දෙමළ රජෙකුට/නායකයෙකුට නොවේ.

103 පිටුව – රජරට ශිෂ්ටාචාරය බිඳ වැටීමෙන් පසු නැගෙනහිර, උතුරු මැද හා වයඹ  පලාත්වල ජන ඝනත්වය අඩු ප්‍රදේශ ආශ්‍රිතව වන්නි වශයෙන් හැඳින්විය හැකි කුඩා පාලන ඒකක කිහිපයක් නිර්මාණය වූ බව පෙනේ.”

අප දන්නා පමණින් වන්නි වශයෙන් හැඳින්වෙන්නේ වවුනියාවේ උතුරේ සිට කිලිනොච්චි/එලිෆන්ට් පාස් දක්වාවූ ප්‍රදේශයි.

131 පිටුව – ‘සංකිලි නම් රජෙක් 1519දි සිට 1561 දක්වා යාපනය රාජධානිය පාලානය කළේය.’ 

මේ පෘතුගීසි පාලන සමයයි. එවිට කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය දෙදරුම් කා තිබුණි. 1530දි පමණ කෝට්ටේ පාලනය කල බුවනෙකබා රජු තම සහෝදර මායාදුන්නේගෙන් පලි ගැනීමට පෘතුගිසින්ගෙන් ආධාර පැතිය (ලංකාව අත් හැර දමා පෙරලා යාමට සිටි පෘතුගීසින්ට යලි ලංකාවේ නතර වීමට සිතුනේ එවිටය). මේ කෙටි කාලයේදී සංකිලි සමහර විට ස්වාධීනව යාපා පටුන පාලනය කළා විය හැකියි. ඔහු තවදුරටත් කෝට්ටේ යුව රජ වශයෙන් කටයුතු කළා යයි ඇතැම්හු තර්ක කරති. 1621 පමණ වන විට යාපන අර්ධද්වීප පාලනය මුළුමනින්ම පෘතුගීසින් අත්ට පත්ව තිබුණි.

20වෙනි සියවසේ මුල් භාගයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය පිලිබඳව පොත් පලකල බී හෝර්ස්බර්ග්, ජේ පී ලුවිස්, එස්  ඥානප්‍රගාසම් පියතුමා, එස් ඩබ්ලිව් කුමාරස්වාමි යන අය ලියා ප්‍රසිද්ධ කර ඇත්තේ මුල පටන්ම යාපනය සිංහල  ප්‍රදේශයක් වූ බවත් ද්‍රවිඩයන් පසුව සිංහල ගම් නම් දෙමළ කල බවත්ය. ඒ බව තහවරු කිරීමට ඔවුහු උතුරේ බෞද්ධ වෙහෙර විහාර පිළිබඳව කරුණු රාශියක් හෙළි දරව් කර ඇත.

11 වන ශ්‍රේණිය  පොත (සංස්කාරක මණ්ඩලය  – පත්මසිරි කන්නංගර, අනුෂා සේනාධිරාජා, චන්දිමා ධර්මපාල)

කිසිදු අඩුපාඩුවක් නොමැත.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර ආනයනය කිරීමේ දී විෂය භාර රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ශෂීන්ද්‍ර රාජපක්ෂ මහතා රුපියල් කෝටි 1100 වංචා කළා ද ?’ යනුවෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී තමන් සිදු කළ ප්‍රකාශයත් සමඟ තිස්ස කුට්ටිආරච්චි මන්ත්‍රීවරයා යොදවා තමන් අපහසුතාවයට පත්වන ආකාරයෙන් පහත් ලෙස ප්‍රකාශයක් සිදුකළ බව සමගි ජන බලවේගය පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රිනී රෝහිණී කවිරත්න මහත්මිය ආණ්ඩුවට චෝදනා කරයි.

තමන්ගේ ප්‍රකාශය අදාළ හොරකම කළ පුද්ගලයාට වැදුණු නිසා ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රබල බළල් අතක් තිස්ස කුට්ටිආරච්චි මන්ත්‍රීවරයා යොදවා පහත් ආකාරයෙන් තමා විවේචනය කළ බව රෝහිණී කවිරත්න මන්ත්‍රීවරිය පෙන්වා දෙයි.

නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් ගෙන්වීමේදී එකකින් ඩොලර් නවයේ පනහක වංචාවක් සිදුව ඇති බව කවිරත්න මහත්මිය වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කරයි.

ඒ අනුව නෑලු නයිට්‍රිජන් පොහොර ගෙන්වීමේදී සිදුව ඇති සමස්ත පාඩුව කෝටි 1100 බව මන්ත්‍රීවරිය පෙන්වා දෙයි..

තමා ව විවේචනය කිරීමට තිස්ස කුට්ටිආරච්චි මන්ත්‍රීවරයා යොදාගත් ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රබල බළල් අත පිළිබඳව රටේ ජනතාව අද කතා කරමින් සිටින බව ද රෝහිණී කවිරත්න මන්ත්‍රීවරිය පෙන්වා දෙයි.

එහිදී ඇය සඳහන් කළේ ශෂීන්ද්‍ර රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගෙන් සහ මහින්දානන්ද අලුත්ගමගේ මහතාගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කිරීමක් සිදු කළොත් සැබෑ හොරුන් හඳුනාගත හැකි බවයි.

අද රටේ තීන්දු තීරණ ගන්නේ එකම පවුලක සහෝදරවරුන් කිප දෙනෙක් බවත් ඒම එම තීරණ මහපොළොව තුළ ප්‍රායෝගික නොවන බවත් කවිරත්න මහත්මිය වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කරයි.

මේ අතර ආණ්ඩුවේ පිරිසක් ඉදිරියේදී විපක්ෂය සමග එක්වීමට නියමිත බවත් මේ මොහොතේ හෙළි කළ නොහැකි බවත් කවිරත්න මහත්මිය සඳහන් කරයි.

ඔවුන් මේ මොහොතේ විපක්ෂය සමග සාකච්ඡා කරමින් සිටින බවත් ඒවා දේශපාලන රහස් නිසාවෙන් කිසිවක් හෙළි කළ නොහැකි බවත් මන්ත්‍රීවරිය වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කළාය.

රටේ පවතින ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්නෙට පිලියමක් ලෙස නිසි නීති රීති රාමුවක් තුළ ගංජා වගාව නීතිගත කළ යුතු බවද රෝහිණී කවිරත්න මහත්මිය සඳහන් කරයි.

පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ වත් මන් කතානායක මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධන මහතා අපක්ෂපාතීව කටයුතු නොකරන බව ද කවිරත්න මහත්මිය සඳහන් කරයි.

ඇය මෙම අදහස් පල කරන්නේ අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්චාවකට ඒක්වෙමිනි.